Man charged for selling ASF-exposed pork

MANILA, Philippines — Charges have been filed against a man caught slaughtering hogs and selling meat procured from areas with confirmed cases of African swine fever (ASF) in Quezon City last weekend.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte yesterday said charges of violating the Food Safety Act and the Sanitation Code, as well as illegal slaughtering, had been filed against Orlando Onque.

Onque was caught by members of the city veterinary office selling meat exposed to the ASF virus in Barangay Bahay Toro last Sunday. 

City veterinarian Ana Marie Cabel said they acted on a tip from Onque’s neighbors, who informed them that he was slaughtering and selling meat sourced from pigs from Barangay Payatas.

“Hogs from Barangay Payatas are supposed to be culled and should not be sold,” said Cabel, noting that around 3,065 pigs from the area have been culled since the first case of ASF was reported last month.

Nonong Velasco, action officer of city’s ASF Task Force, said Onque bought the pig from a backyard raiser in Payatas despite the ban on transporting pigs from the area.

“The objective of the one-kilometer protocol is to contain the virus,” he said. “We don’t want the virus to spread. Self-consumption is allowed because the virus has no effect on humans. We simply don’t allow selling outside the contaminated area so we do not spread the virus.”

Belmonte urged hog raisers to cooperate with the city’s efforts to contain the spread of the ASF. 

“Our efforts against ASF will not succeed without the cooperation of our hog raisers,” she said in Filipino.

“This may serve as warning to all local residents. They must cooperate with the city government’s effort to eradicate ASF or face severe punishment,” she added, referring to Onque’s case.

Additional funding

Belmonte said the city government has allocated another P5 million to augment the initial P10 million fund earmarked for the financial assistance to hog raisers who will voluntarily surrender their live pigs for culling.

She renewed her call for hog raisers in the city to voluntarily surrender their pigs so they can avail themselves of the local government’s financial assistance of P3,000 per pig.

Belmonte said the city government has swiftly implemented preemptive measures in Barangays Tandang Sora and Pasong Tamo even before the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) confirmed that pigs from the areas have tested positive for ASF.

The latest development brought the number of Quezon City barangays with ASF to five, after earlier confirmation in Bagong Silangan, Payatas and Tatalon.

The Department of Agriculture earlier clarified a case of ASF has yet to be confirmed in Barangay Commonwealth, which was inadvertently included in an earlier advisory.

Belmonte said the city veterinary office has already started culling hogs voluntarily surrendered by backyard raisers in Tandang Sora and Pasong Tamo ahead of the release of BAI test results.

Belmonte said hogs within the one-kilometer radius of the two new barangays with confirmed cases of ASF will be culled as per the government’s protocol to address the swine disease.