• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The local government units of Bago City and San Enrique in Negros Occidental, are extending cash assistance to hog raisers affected by the current spate of swine diseases, as the Department of Agriculture races against time to stop the spread of deadly viruses.
Mayor Jilson Tubillara yesterday said that the municipal government will extend P3,000 to P5,000 each in financial assistance to hog raisers in San Enrique, where 83.69 percent of its hog population, or 2,253 out of 2,692, died of hog cholera and other diseases, based on reports of the Provincial Veterinary Office.
Tubillara, however, maintained that San Enrique remains ASF free, as 27 of the blood samples taken from hogs in the town yielded negative results.
The distribution of cash aid to affected hog raisers, especially an estimated 600 backyard growers, was decided during a meeting with members of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, which was attended by Vice Mayor Carlo Raymund Magno and two municipal councilors, pending clarification of the declaration of state of calamity by the municipal council without the endorsement of the MDRRMC, the mayor said.
Mayor Nicholas Yulo also said that the Bago City government will also extend financial assistance to hog raisers, with amounts ranging from P1,000 to P2,000 per dead swine.
A total of 1,178 hogs died in Bago City, which is 5.58 percent of its 20,836 swine population, PVO records showed.
The provincial government of Negros Occidental is also amending its ASF ordinance, aimed at increasing penalties to individuals who may be caught transporting live pigs and pork related products from ASF areas to the province, Vice Gov. Jeffrey Ferrer disclosed.
Yulo also warned those throwing dead hogs in creeks and rivers that they will be penalized if caught.
Acting Bacolod City Mayor El Cid Familiaran, in an interview with Bombo Radyo, yesterday disclosed that the agriculture department’s Bureau of Animal Industry confirmed that the piglet that died in Brgy. Tangub, Bacolod City, was due to ASF infection.
The first two ASF cases were detected Friday last week in Brgy. Taculing, Bacolod City, followed by the discovery of another ASF infection in Brgy. Mabini, Pulupandan, Negros Occidental.
With this development, the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod is requesting the City Veterinary Office to conduct intensified testing and monitoring of live hogs within the jurisdiction of Bacolod City, to curtail the spread of ASF.
As of May 30, Negros Occidental, excluding Bacolod City, has logged 7,229 swine mortalities, with the damage to the hog industry in the province pegged at P93,180,675, PVO reports said.
Mayors Renato Gustilo and Ella Celestina Garcia Yulo also issued executive orders banning the entry of live pigs, boar semen, pork and its related products from ASF and hog cholera affected areas, and those without the necessary travel and shipping documents, into San Carlos City and Moises Padilla, respectively.*
