THE Cebu Provincial Government is intensifying its measures against the entry of African swine fever (ASF) in Cebu by banning the entry of live hogs, pork-related products, byproducts and commingled food products from the entire island of Mindanao beginning Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020. The ban will be in effect for a period of 90 days.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia announced the measure in a news conference on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
She said concerns on the spread of the ASF were among the matters raised during a meeting called by President Rodrigo Duterte with all local chief executives last Monday, Feb. 10.
“Contrary to previous announcements from the DA (Department of Agriculture) that the ASF has been contained, it has now spread in Luzon to the north as far as Benguet and worse, ASF is now present in Mindanao,” Garcia said.
Last week, on Feb. 3, Garcia issued EO 4, Series of 2020, which prohibits the entry into the province of pork, boar semen, pork-related products and by-products from Region 11 or the Davao Region in Southern Mindanao.
The move came after samples drawn from around 1,000 dead pigs in Don Marcelino town, Davao Occidental, tested positive for ASF, the first confirmed cases of the hog disease in Mindanao.
“We know that Mindanao is an island. It would be very easy to cross borders from one province to the next, and we know that this bacteria can easily be transmitted through clothing, tires of vehicles and grass. That is why we’re also prohibiting the entry of commingled products,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the ban will take effect on Thursday to give those who intend to ship live hogs, pork products, byproducts and commingled food products from Mindanao enough time to forgo their plans.
Conflict with circular
But while Garcia is set to enforce the new ban on all pork from Mindanao, DA 7 Director Salvador Diputado cautioned the governor against issuing the order.
Diputado said this would run against a provision of DA Administrative Circular 12 (S.2019) which was issued in accordance with President Duterte’s order directing all government agencies and local government units (LGUs) to strictly implement and comply with the “National Zoning and Movement Plan for African Swine Fever.”
“In the zoning, if the area is still dark green, it’s classified as a freezone and that means there is still no ASF in the area. If the area is red, those are the hot zones,” Diputado said.
“Trading within the areas classified as green is free and it should not be hindered, stopped or prevented. That means that trading between some parts of Mindanao that are still green is allowed,” he added.
Diputado said all ordinances of the LGU must adhere to provisions of the zoning order.
Last Feb. 5, the President ordered concerned agencies and local government units to “strictly implement” the national zoning plan aimed at controlling the spread of the ASF.
Duterte said there was an “urgent need” to ensure “consistent implementation” and compliance with the DA’s Administrative Circular 12, or the National Zoning and Movement Plan for ASF.
Under the DA’s zoning plan, the agency classified the country into various zones with respective movement protocols to regulate the movement of pork and pork products around the country.
Under the yellow zone are “high-risk areas” because of the dense population of swine and the trade volume of pigs, pork and pork products.
Metro Manila was categorized under the buffer zone since it is the “main” market area for hogs, the circular said.
The light green zone, on the other hand, includes areas with no ASF cases but are contiguous with the yellow zone in terms of land mass.
Diputado said he will explain this to the governor and other stakeholders as the DA is tasked to monitor compliance with the President’s order.
Other measures
“It is up to them (LGU) to comply and their executive orders should be amended to conform to the zoning regulations issued by the DA,” Diputado told SunStar Cebu.
Aside from the 90-day total ban on pork from Mindanao, separate measures, issued earlier, indefinitely ban the entry of live hogs, pork-related products, byproducts and commingled food products from Luzon, Davao Region and Eastern Visayas.
Local hog producers assured the governor there will be enough supply of pork for consumers in Cebu after she sought their recommendation in a closed door meeting on Monday.
“I gave utmost importance to the question on whether we will still have enough pork supply for the Cebuanos. Won’t this be a cause for a sudden price hike? They gave that assurance for as long as we keep it at a 90-day basis,” Garcia said.
The DA first confirmed an ASF outbreak in seven areas in Bulacan and Rizal provinces in Luzon in September 2019.
The outbreak prompted Garcia to order a 100-day ban on all pork products and live hogs from Luzon by issuing Executive Order (EO) 16 last Sept. 18. to protect the P11 billion local hog industry.
The ban, which was supposed to end on Dec. 28 was later extended until June 30, 2020.
On Dec. 13, 2019, Garcia issued EO 27, which prohibits the entry into the province of pork, boar semen, pork-related products and by-products from Eastern Visayas.
The governor’s move came as several regions surrounding Central Visayas lifted their ban on pork products from Luzon.
Earlier, Provincial Veterinarian Mary Rose Vincoy said Mindanao is a crucial area, especially with General Santos City housing several commercial hog farms and the Province of Bukidnon being a top swine breeding area.
In its official website, the DA assured that there is enough supply of pork and pork products in the country despite the ASF outbreak.
Based on the latest report, only 1.7 percent of the 12.7 million national swine population is affected.
“From the 216,000 depopulated swine, only about 13 percent is sick, but because of the 1-7-10 protocol, we have to depopulate every hog within the one-kilometer radius,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said.
Swill feeding remains the primary cause of the outbreak, Dar added.
Dar urged everyone to work together in helping the affected local government units to properly manage, control and contain the spread of ASF whose origin is still being traced.
The identified possible sources of the ASF, which is fatal to pigs, include food wastes from ports and smuggled pork products.
Despite the recent outbreak in Davao Occidental, Dar assured the public that the country had enough supply of pork and pork products.
“We will help in terms of making supply more available, by bringing the produce from the countryside to the metropolitan areas like Metro Manila, and lower the retail prices of food commodities,” Dar said. (RTF/JOB/With PR)