ILOILO – The provincial government has expanded its ban on live swine, pork, pork products and byproducts to cover the whole of Mindanao.
The goal, according to Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr., is to protect Iloilo’s swine industry from the African swine fever (ASF) which has hit Mindanao’s swine.
On Feb. 5 he issued Executive Order No. 027-A expanding the existing temporary ban (Executive Order No. 027 issued on Jan. 20, 2020) on live swine, pork, pork products and byproducts covering Luzon and the countries of Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Luxembourg, Belgium, Bulgaria, Moldova, Czech Republic, South Africa, Zambia, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao peoples Republic, South Korea, and China.
ASF is a highly contagious hemorrhagic viral disease that spreads rapidly in pigs. Since there is no known vaccine against it yet – sick pigs die in two to 10 days – ASF is destructive to the swine industry.
According to Dr. Darel Tabuada, Iloilo province’s supervising veterinarian, the Department of Agriculture confirmed that the towns of Don Marcelino and Maita in Davao Occidental have ASF cases.
“Considering damo kita pork products and live animals nga nagahalin didto sa Mindanaoand naga-agi sa Iloilo Airport and Dumangas seaport, nakita ni Governor nga may threat gid kita sa ASF, amo na gin-entire Mindanao ang ban,” said Tabuada.
In fact, he added, last month the provincial government ordered tighter monitoring at the Iloilo Airport and Dumangas seaport in coordination with the Bureau of Animal Industry.
Last week, the city government of Iloilo also expanded its swine ban coverage to include the Davao Region (Region 11).
The province of Davao Occidental which is part of Region 11 declared a state of calamity, with up to 10,000 hogs affected by ASF.
Despite the ban, Iloilo has not experienced a shortage in pork, pork products and by-products as there are lots of local suppliers and hog raisers./PN
