THE culling of 900 hogs covered within the five puroks in Barangay Inayangan, Calinan District in Davao City will start Sunday, February 23, days after samples from dead hogs were confirmed to be positive of African Swine Fever (ASF).
Department of Agriculture - Davao Region (DA-Davao) Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Section chief Noel Provido said in a phone interview on Saturday, February 22, that the culling process will now take effect after the 19th City Council granted the recommendation of the Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DCDRRMC) to declare the area under state of calamity.
Provido said the culling of hogs is deemed necessary to prevent the spread of the ASF, which has no cure.
City Veterinarian’s Office (CVO) head Cerelyn Pinili, in an interview Friday, February 21, said the culling operation will take effect immediately, in coordination with DA and other concerned agencies.
Pinili said more than 90 hograisers will be compensated by both the city and DA, in replacement of the depopulated hogs.
She said they will give financial assistance to hog raisers by culling at P1,500 per piglet (suckling), and P5,000 per grower or P90 per kilo, whichever is higher, per grower. It will be sourced from the P32,295,200 financial aid granted by the Council, as requested by the City Mayor’s Office.
This is on top of the P5,000 indemnity payment given by Department of Agriculture-Davao for each pig that will be culled.
Inayangan is near Barangay Lamanan, where the first ASF outbreak in the city was declared earlier this month. Also affected is Barangay Dominga. Both belong to Calinan District.
At present, the affected barangays are covered under the quarantine zone or the one-kilometer radius of the “1-7-10 Protocol” imposed by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Provido said they have not yet adjusted the “ground zero” coverage of the one-kilometer radius, since Inayangan is covered in the said radius, which is under the quarantine zone.
“Same pa lang gihapon to atong gi-impose tungod wala pa man tay formal nga adjustment (We are still imposing the same area coverage of the radius since we did not have a formal adjustment up to now),” he said.
“Zones should be adjusted in the infected premises or reference point,” he added.
The official said the city and DA already communicated with the affected hograisers.
He added the farmers already understands the situation and they are willing to surrender their hogs as a mitigating measure to prevent the disease from spreading to nearby barangays.
“Open na sila sa panghitabo kay nakita naman nila unsa ang nahitabo sa Dominga ug Lamanan (They are fully aware of the situation in Dominga and Lamanan,” Provido said.
As of now, he said they have not yet received any suspected hog incidents within the protocol zones, but they are closely monitoring it.