BACOLOD City — The Bacolod City Veterinary Office (CVO) is intensifying its information and education campaign against African Swine Fever (ASF) as local hog raisers raise concerns over low buying prices for live hogs.
The CVO is profiling hog raisers and conducting seminars across the city’s 61 barangays to strengthen awareness of ASF prevention, improve disease surveillance, and promote proper biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
As part of the initiative, the CVO, in partnership with the Sangguniang Barangay of Villamonte headed by Barangay Captain Rommel T. Flores, recently conducted a stakeholders’ meeting and seminar for hog raisers in the barangay.
Dr. Marie Janine Sarthou, assistant city veterinarian, led the discussion on ASF, including the nature of the virus, its modes of transmission, clinical signs, and the importance of implementing proper biosecurity measures.
The CVO also profiled hog raisers in Villamonte to better understand their concerns and monitor the ASF situation on the ground as part of its continuing surveillance and response efforts.
On August 26, the office distributed information, education and communication (IEC) materials to barangays as part of its continuing ASF prevention campaign.
The materials, including tarpaulins, contain reminders on essential biosecurity practices and are intended to help hog raisers reduce the risk of ASF transmission.
The CVO said the distribution of IEC materials will continue in other barangays in the coming days as the campaign expands across the city.
Meanwhile, the Bacolod Backyard Hog Raiser has asked the city government to investigate what the group described as unfair and potentially abusive buying practices that have pushed live hog prices to levels that threaten the livelihood of small-scale producers.
In a letter addressed to Mayor Greg Gasataya and coursed through the Sangguniang Panlungsod, the group called for an immediate, independent and transparent investigation into the pricing of liveweight hogs in Bacolod City.
Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, chairperson of the SP Committee on Agriculture and Agrarian Concerns, said the group alleged that some traders have been buying live hogs at prices substantially below prevailing market levels.
The group said such pricing practices leave small-scale hog raisers with limited bargaining power and make it increasingly difficult for them to recover their production costs.
The concerns come as the city continues its efforts to protect the local swine industry through disease prevention, surveillance, and support for hog raisers.
The CVO’s intensified ASF information campaign and the hog raisers’ call for a review of buying practices underscore the need to protect both the health of the city’s swine population and the livelihood of small-scale producers./PN
