DESPITE the ban on pork products from Panay Island and Guimaras due to the African Swine Flu (ASF) scare, Negros Occidental Acting Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Placeda Lemana assured a stable supply and prices of live pigs and pork meat in the province.

"There is no price movement of the live pigs and pork meat so far based on our monitoring. We have enough supply in our province and we are even exporting to other regions," Lemana said.

She said for almost three years now, the province has been banning the entry of live pigs, pork and other byproducts from Luzon and Mindanao.

As of now, only those from Cebu and Negros Oriental are being allowed to enter the province, Lemana added.

“Until this time, the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Animal Industry has not yet released the official result of the test nor issued an advisory about the ASF case in Iloilo,” the veterinarian noted.

Aside from Negros Occidental, the provincial governments of Aklan and Capiz have already issued a memorandum circular in their respective provinces regarding the border control and ban on entry of live pigs, pork meat and other byproducts from Iloilo after the reported case.

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has already issued two memorandum circular, on Thursday ordering a ban on the entry of pork and pork byproducts originating from Panay and Guimaras.

Lacson emphasized that the ASF poses a great threat to Negros Occidental, being one of the major producers and gateway of live pigs being supplied to Luzon, Central and Eastern Visayas.

As part of Provincial Ordinance No. 2012-024, otherwise known as the "ASF Prevention Ordinance of Negros Occidental," Lacson has ordered the Provincial Veterinary Office's (PVO) Provincial ASF Task Force to ban the entry of all pigs, pork, pork byproducts from the provinces of Iloilo, Antique, Capiz, Aklan and Guimaras.

He also urged the Provincial ASF Task Force to conduct rigid and stringent screening and inspection of incoming shipments of live animals and pork products.

The task force is also ordered to conduct checkpoints to intercept and control the movement of live animals, pork and pork byproducts entering the province and confiscate any undocumented shipments.

All transport carriers, upon arrival at the province's seaports, must undergo mandatory and regular disinfection.