BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of San Enrique in Negros Occidental passed a resolution calling for a declaration of a “state of calamity” in the municipality.
Vice Mayor Carlo Raymund Magno said the SB passed the resolution last week after the municipality recorded a total of 1,800 hog deaths.
Magno also confirmed they passed the resolution even without a formal recommendation from the local disaster risk reduction management council or the municipal development council.
“It would now depend on the executive branch kung anu ang ila [action]. Ang SB will support kung anu man ang tikang sang executive,” Magno said.
San Enrique town mayor Jilson Tubillara, meanwhile, said they are waiting for word from the provincial government on what their plans and programs will be to address the situation.
Tubillara said the entire 4th District of Negros Occidental is now a “red zZone” due to suspected hog cholera cases.
The town mayor also admitted that they currently do not have any budget allocated to combat the hog deaths in the municipality.
However, he assured the public that they are already looking into it, and the provincial government has also allocated funds to address the issue.
On Monday, Provincial Veterinary Office officer-in-charge Dr. Placeda Lemana said San Enrique has the highest mortality rate for hogs in the province as of May 19.
Tubillara earlier pointed to the irresponsible dumping of dead hogs, believed to be infected with hog cholera, in the river originating from the upland villages as the cause of the spread of the disease. San Enrique is a water catch basin in the fourth district, he added.
According to Iowa State University in the United States, hog cholera, also known as “classical swine fever,” is a highly contagious, viral disease for swine.
The disease is currently endemic in much of Asia.
Unlike African swine fever, however, there is an existing vaccine for hog cholera. The virus is also harmless to humans.
Among the noted symptoms of hog cholera are fever, loss of appetite, dullness, weakness, conjunctivitis, constipation followed by diarrhea, and an unsteady gait./PN
