THE Court of Appeals (CA) has temporarily halted the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) from implementing its culling and zoning map policy for containing African swine fever (ASF) in Cebu Province.
In a resolution dated Friday, June 30, 2023, the CA’s 20th division in Cebu City said that there is an urgency in issuing the temporary restraining order (TRO).
The CA found it reasonable to issue the TRO, saying “the continued implementation of the culling and zoning policy of respondent will cause grave and irreparable damage” to the province.
“The Province of Cebu before the declaration of respondent of the existence of ASF in the province, [had] been one of the biggest suppliers of hogs and meat products in the country,” it said. “The culling and zoning map policy of respondent gravely affected the P11-billion hog industry in the province, which if not abated will cause irreparable damage not just to the livelihood of the constituents but more importantly to the economic growth and sustainability of the hog industry in the Province of Cebu.”
“There appears, at least preliminarily, a right on the part of petitioner that needs to be protected. Aside from the property rights and general welfare of its constituents, the right to local autonomy of petitioner is being threatened by the refusal of respondent to properly coordinate and cooperate with the LGU,” it added.
Garcia’s appeal
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia held a press conference Friday afternoon to announce the CA’s issuance of TRO, which covers a period of 60 days from notice.
She appealed to other local government units (LGUs) to lift their existing policies that prohibit the importation of live hogs and related products from Cebu based on the CA’s resolution.
“They will have to recognize that there is no reason to prohibit the shipment of our hogs or pigs,” Garcia said in the press conference, which was livestreamed on Sugbo News’ Facebook page.
The governor said they filed a petition for prohibition against BAI on April 18, urging the CA to stop its ASF policy in the province. The petition is a special civil action that seeks for a judgment ordering the respondent to desist from continuing with the commission of an act perceived to be illegal.
The CA still has to decide on the petition.
The Provincial Government has also filed charges against BAI officials before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Re-evaluation
The CA also cited the statement of DA 7 Director Angel Enriquez, who had acknowledged the possibility of reevaluating the current ASF protocols of the BAI.
“Since a re-evaluation and review of such protocols is not yet forthcoming, it is urgent that a TRO be issued to suspend temporarily the culling and zoning policy of respondent in the Province of Cebu, pendíng hearing on the application for a writ of preliminary injunction. This should be done in order to preserve the status quo and to stop the alleged indiscriminate culling of pigs and zoning done by respondent,” read a portion of the resolution penned by Associate Justice Mercedita Dadole-Ygnacio.
The CA said it “sees a sense of urgency on the matter considering that there is a constitutional issue raised involving the taking of personal property of the constituents of petitioner (the Provincial Government), without due process of law and without compensation. In other words, public interest is involved in this case because not just the economic well-being of petitioner is at stake, but also the welfare of its constituents.”
Background
ASF was first detected in Carcar City on March 1. On March 10, at least 300 pigs from three barangays in the city were culled.
On March 20, the BAI reported the presence of the viral hog disease in Cebu City, Liloan, Sibonga, Tuburan and Bogo City.
Ten days later, the agency raised the number of infected areas in Cebu Province to 12 from the initial six.
The BAI placed the following towns and cities under the red (infected) zone: the cities of Bogo, Carcar, Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay, and the towns of Cordova, Liloan, Minglanilla, San Fernando, Sibonga and Tuburan.
As of the agency’s latest update from June 2 to 14, the 12 LGUs were still included in the red zone.
Carcar City Mayor Mario Patricio “Patrick” Barcenas has appealed to the BAI to remove the city from the list.
Under the DA Administrative Order 2, series of 2022, red zone prohibits LGUs to export their live hogs, sows, piglets, genetic materials, pork meats and related products to areas under the pink (buffer), yellow (surveillance), light green (protected) and dark green (free) zones.
In the press conference Friday, Provincial Legal Officer Donato Villa said that with the TRO, the pre-ASF status quo in Cebu will be restored.
“It is as if there was no outbreak, no ASF in the province of Cebu,” Villa said.
The governor said BAI’s ASF policy has caused “economic hardship” on hog farmers in Cebu.