THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Davao Station is strictly monitoring seaports and the coastal areas of the city to prevent the entry of live pigs and pork products from African Swine Fever (ASF)-affected areas.
PCG Davao station head Commander Gary Laynesa said that this developed following the positive African Swine Fever (ASF) case in Davao Occidental. These measures include the conduct of intensified screening of watercraft that might contain live animals and pork products.
“So far, wala pa naman nakalusot sa mga seaports natin lalo na dito sa Davao, mahigpit din po kasi ang monitoring ng coast guard sa Davao Occidental lalo na po sa area ng Don Marcelino,” Laynesa said.
Laynesa added that a joint seaborne patrol in the municipal waters of Don Marcelino has been implemented to ensure that there are no live or meat products that could sneak in through the waters going into the city which might potentially put the swine industry here at risk.
“[We are conducting] inspection of all watercraft in the area and widest dissemination to coastal areas regarding the ASF,” Laynesa said.
Earlier, the City Government of Davao has expanded its current pork import ban to the provinces of Davao del Sur and Davao Occidental, following the reported deaths of some 1,000 pigs due to ASF in Don Marcelino, Davao Occidental.
When it comes to land security against ASF, the Task Force Davao is coordinating with the Davao City Veterinary Office (CVO) in manning the three fixed checkpoints in Lasang, Toril, and Calinan to intercept and control the movement of live animals, pork products and other related items from entering the city.
TFD Civil Military Office (CMO) chief Major Louie Legarde bared yesterday that since January, before the ASF outbreak in Davao Region, they noted 45,500 livestock have entered in Davao City and 45,346 have documents while 154 have no legal papers coming from their veterinarian certifying that these are free from ASF.
In case they have monitored suspected live pigs with ASF, Legarde said that they usually tell the concerned personnel to go back to where they came from and get an appropriate certification.
In every checkpoint, Legarde said that there are four personnel from CVO assisted by trained troops to check trucks loaded with live hogs and meat. There is also in place biosecurity in the checkpoints wherein all vehicles and passengers would have to undergo a foot bath and disinfection to ensure that the virus will not be able to enter the city premises.