Governor, Cebu City mayor: Total ban on pork products from Luzon stays

THE Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) has appealed to local government units (LGUs) to lift the ban on pork products imposed as a preventive measure against the African swine fever (ASF).

In a statement, Pampi assured its consumers that it doesn’t import pork from areas affected by the ASF.

“Unfortunately, during the past two weeks, the movement, distribution and sale of processed meat products were banned by some LGUs on the mistaken belief and unfounded fear that they will cause harm to their hog raisers,” the group said.

Pampi is composed of leading manufacturers of processed meats and meat products of household brands in the country.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia issued Executive Order (EO) 16, which amended earlier EOs, to totally ban the entry of live hogs, pork, pork-related products, byproducts and boar semen from Luzon into Cebu for 100 days.

This, after the Department of Agriculture confirmed an ASF outbreak in seven areas in Bulacan and Rizal provinces in Luzon.

“Such move has absolutely no basis in fact and science. We thus appeal to the LGUs to take a second look and consider lifting the ban immediately. We also appeal to the national government to promptly issue unified and coordinated guidelines for adoption by all LGUs on the movement, distribution and sale of pork products, both raw and processed, to avoid disruption of trade and damage to the economy,” the group said.

According to Pampi, the country’s meat processing industry is valued at P300 billion.

The governor, though, was not moved by Pampi’s appeal.

“As far as I am concerned, I am tasked to protect the general welfare of Cebu and the Cebuanos. I believe that it is my duty to take all necessary measures in order to prevent the entry of the highly contagious and now present ASF virus,” Garcia said on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019.

“Pampi has all the resources to come out with full page advertisements because they are big businesses. But I am protecting our own swine industry in Cebu and all related industries that will be affected should ASF virus enter Cebu,” the governor said.

Cebu City Mayor Edgard Labella also stood firm on his decision to ban the entry of pork products from Luzon.

Labella wants to be sure that any pork products from ASF-affected areas cannot enter the city. However, he clarified that the City did not ban all entry of pork products, only those from Luzon.

The region’s hog producers, the Central Visayas Pork Producers Cooperative (CeViPPCo) and Cebu Association of Veterinary Salesforce, also insist on the total ban of pork and pork-related products from Luzon.

“We are on a precautionary side and we cannot put Cebu Province’s P11 billion local hog industry at risk. We cannot wait for any scientific proof to say whether heat processed pork meat products are safe or not safe to our farm pigs before we act,” it said.

CeViPPCo reiterated the outbreak of the ASF in Luzon was “due to imported pork food leftovers which were fed to pigs by backyard farm operators in Rizal Province.”

“The Pampi members who are based in Luzon have claimed that 90-95 percent of the raw pork used by local processors are imported from ASF-free countries. The Department of Agriculture, however, cannot give us 100 percent assurance that these imported meat products are 100 percent checked and tested upon arrival at our ports as they don’t have any sustainable testing protocols in place yet,” it said.

Cebu is the fourth largest pork producer in the country with annual production of 53,890 metric tons valued at P11 billion, the group said.

“There are at least 150,000 Cebuano families who are directly dependent on swine raising and are at risk of losing their livelihood should we fail to stop ASF from entering our territory,” it said.

Dr. Mary Rose Vincoy, chief of the Provincial Veterinary Office, stood her ground and said the ban implemented by Garcia will protect hundreds and thousands of families that directly and indirectly benefit from Cebu’s hog industry.

“I stand by the position of EO 16. The hog industry in Cebu is huge. They can always do their appeal, but at the end of the day, we have a mandate to enforce and we, as Cebuanos, should bank on this general welfare code because it’s been consulted and supported by different stakeholders and sectors in the province of Cebu,” she said. JOB, RTF, With a report from JJL