Bacolod City – Hog mortalities in Negros Occidental, where damage to the industry has almost breached P200 million as of August 13, appears to have ground to a halt, as indicated by zero casualties over the past three days, from as high as 400 daily in previous months.
This also developed as the provincial government of Negros Occidental is about to start distributing P10 million cash subsidy to more than 4,000 affected hog raisers.
Affected hog raisers in San Enrique and Ilog, Negros Occidental, are the first to receive cash assistance of P2,000 each, announced Provincial Administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz yesterday.
Diaz said additional funding to be sourced from savings of the provincial government of Negros Occidental, is being eyed to accommodate more affected hog raiser beneficiaries.
Among the 20 local government units hit by hog diseases in the province, San Enrique ranked number one in terms of hog mortalities at 2,671, followed by Bago City – 2,433, Valladolid – 2,390, Pontevedra – 1,502, and Ilog – 1,435, composing the top 5 hardest hit LGUs.
Overall, a total of 17,801 hog deaths were recorded as of Sunday by the Provincial Animal Biosecurity Incident Management Team, as figure which constitutes 9.83 percent of the total pig population of 181,048.
Damage to Negros Occidental hog industry is placed at P199,577,900.
Diaz said that the provincial government of Negros Occidental will ask for exemption from the Commission on Election on the distribution of cash assistance, as the election period for the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan starts August 28.
Diaz said the Provincial Legal Office has asked the different offices of the provincial government to submit a list of beneficiaries of their programs.
While the provincial government is ready to release the cash assistance for hog raisers, he said they are currently undergoing a “cleansing of qualified beneficiaries.” (Gilbert Bayoran via TVDS photo by TVDS)
