BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Do not bring pork and pork byproducts as pasalubong (presents by one arriving from a trip) when coming home this holiday season, the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) urged repatriates.
According to Dr. Renante Decena, PVO head, personnel of the provincial government’s African swine fever (ASF) task force intercepted about 18 kilograms of meat products at the Bacolod-Silay Airport in Silay City, Negros Occidental.
These processed meat products were confiscated last week from an arriving Authorized Person Outside of Residence (APOR) from Manila.
According Decena, a notice of violation and confiscation order was issued to the APOR. The meat shipment was immediately destroyed.
Last year, the provincial government permanently banned pork and its byproducts from parts of Luzon and ASF-affected countries.
Violators may face penalties ranging from P1,000 to P5,000 and imprisonment of one year.
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 Decena, the PVO is doubling monitoring efforts at the province’s entry points to block the arrival of pork products from ASF-hit areas.
Among the areas being guarded by the task force are the Bredco port in Bacolod City and Danao Port in Escalante City. The task force is also monitoring the border with Negros Oriental.
Negros Occidental, the number one backyard hog producer in the Philippines, has a P6-billion swine industry./PN
