ASF watch: Cebu province vigilant as neighbors lift ban

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu will enforce stricter monitoring of pork and pork-related products from Eastern Visayas following reports that provinces there have lifted the ban on pork and pork-related products.

“We were informed last week that some of the provinces in Region 8 lifted their ban because of the meat supply and demand and other reasons…because of the order of the DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government),” Dr. Mary Rose Vincoy, Cebu provincial veterinarian, said in an interview.

Last October, the DILG ordered local government units to lift their ban against live hogs, pork and pork-related products from Luzon in its effort to regulate the supply and demand of pork from areas infected with the African Swine Flu virus.

Cebu was not among those that heeded.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said she was not taking any chances, considering that the local hog and pork industry here is valued at P11 billion.

With Region 8 provinces having lifted their ban, Vincoy said Cebu is put in a more vulnerable position. Among the region’s provinces that are directly facing Cebu are Leyte, Southern Leyte, and Biliran.

“Possible man nga ang uban nga mga products i-agi na lang ug Region 8 and then mo-sud sa Cebu (It’s likely that some products are shipped through Region 8, and then to Cebu),” she said.

Because of this, Vincoy said, the province will be intensifying port surveillance aside from quarantine and border control.

Cebu will also be tapping the local task forces in the towns and cities, she added.

“We'll be strengthening our border control facing Region 8,” she said.

In October, amid reports that some farms in Luzon had been infected by ASF, Garcia declared a 100-day ban on pork and pork products from Luzon to Cebu. She later extended the ban to June 30 of next year.

However, Garcia assured that if ASF would have been controlled before the deadline, the province would lift its ban. (FREEMAN)