Negros Occidental seizes, returns banned pork products to Iloilo

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Quarantine inspectors intercepted pork products worth P20,000 at the port in this city over the weekend.

The confiscated items were shipped back to Iloilo, where they originated, provincial veterinarian Dr. Placeda Lemana said yesterday.

The ban on the entry of hogs and pork products from Panay island and Guimaras is mandated under a joint executive order (EO) issued by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez last week.

The EO was issued to prevent the spread of African swine fever after ASF was detected in Oton town in Iloilo.

The provincial government of Negros Occidental and the Bacolod city government organized a joint ASF task force to implement the EO.