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Bacolod To Align ASF Pork Ban Policy With Negros Occidental Strategy

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The city government here is seeking to harmonize its policy on the African swine fever (ASF) ban on pork products with the strategy of Negros Occidental’s provincial government, which will enforce “The ASF Prevention Ordinance” starting December 9.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia said he would propose a meeting between the respective ASF task forces of Bacolod and Negros Occidental to iron out concerns in terms of jurisdiction.

“If you think in terms of practicality and reality, we’re situated on one island. You cannot delineate. The boundaries are hard to define,” Leonardia said on Tuesday.

Bacolod, the provincial capital, is a highly-urbanized city, which is independent of the provincial government.

Leonardia added that he would ask City Agriculturist Goldwyn Nifras and City Veterinarian Ma. Agueda Trinidad dela Torre to meet with their counterparts in the provincial government and define the parameters in the enforcement of the permanent ban on pork and pork products from ASF-affected areas.

“I would like to see a harmonized policy. We cannot be independent of each other on a matter like this. There has to be coordination, harmony, and symphony,” he added.

The ASF Prevention Ordinance of Negros Occidental prohibits the entry of live pig, boar semen, pork, and pork products, including food items containing pork originating from, and/or processed in Luzon and countries affected with ASF.

Latest report showed the Provincial ASF Task Force quarantine team has confiscated PHP2.51 million worth of pork and pork-based products at the Bacolod-Silay Airport and other ports of entry since the province’s 90-day ban on pork from Luzon started in September.

On October 1, Leonardia issued Executive Order 29, also enforcing a 90-day ASF pork ban in support of a similar action by the provincial government.

Negros Occidental, the country’s number one backyard hog producer, with a PHP6-billion swine industry, has enforced since September 18 the ban on the entry of pork and pork products from Luzon, where positive cases of ASF have been reported.

On November 26, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer signed Provincial Ordinance 2019-024, otherwise known as “The ASF Prevention Ordinance of Negros Occidental”, to keep the province free from the virus.

Lacson also declared Negros Occidental as an ASF-free province under Provincial Board Resolution 1042. (Nanette Guadalquiver ndb via pna)

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