Hog industry sees no problem with extended ban in Cebu, to sell more hogs to other areas

Hog raisers in Negros Occidental province will continue selling live pigs in other areas in the Visayas and Luzon after the neighboring Cebu province extended the pork ban covering the Negros Island for another 15 days or until April 20 to curb African swine fever (ASF) infection.

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said that they respect Cebu’s pork ban and sees no problem with it.

“There’s no problem with that. We have no complaints from our hog industry. They have a market, they’re happy. They’re selling at a higher price to buyers in Manila,” he told reporters.

The sugar-producing province, which has a P6-billion swine industry, is listed as a dark green zone or ASF-free by the Department of Agriculture.

When the ban started on March 6, live pigs sold by raisers in Negros Occidental to buyers in Leyte can no longer pass through the ports in Cebu, prompting the sellers to ship out to Luzon instead, along with other areas in the Visayas.

On March 7, Negros Occidental included Cebu, with Bantayan Island and Camotes Island, in its own pork ban, which already covers Luzon, Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, Panay Island and Guimaras Island, which all have reported cases of ASF between 2019 and 2022.

Data from the Provincial Veterinary Office showed that since the Cebu pork ban started, 4,031 heads of pigs have already been shipped out by the province to Negros Oriental, Iloilo and Capiz as well as Bulacan, Rizal, and Quezon in Luzon and the cities of Caloocan and Malabon.

“Even if Cebu extended the ban, our raisers still have outlets. Those not shipped out are being processed into pork by-products,” Dr. Placeda Lemana, acting provincial veterinarian, said in an interview.

Lemana earlier said that since Negros Occidental has also banned bringing in pork by-products from Cebu, backyard raisers have to increase production of processed pork items such as “chorizo and tocino” to meet the local demand. l

‘Market of its own’

On the other hand, the provincial government is confident that its hog industry will have “a market of its own”.

Provincial administrator, Atty. Diaz said that selling prices in Metro Manila are high, citing reports of hog raisers in the province.

After Cebu imposed a ban on the entry of live hogs from Negros, hog raisers have resorted to selling their products in Manila and other parts of Luzon initially at a lower price than they enjoyed when selling in Cebu and in Eastern Visayas.

“Let them (Cebu) decide what is good for them. We will decide and take care of our own industries,” Diaz also added.

In an executive order (EO) issued Wednesday last week, Cebu Gov. Garcia also prohibited the entry of piglets and semen, apart from the live hogs and sows as well as products that contain pork.

“The Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, Cebu Port Authority, Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority, and component cities and municipalities within the territorial jurisdiction of the Province of Cebu are called upon to monitor the strict implementation of this executive order,” the order said.

Garcia said that there is a need to confer with the hog industry players, the mayors in Cebu, and the governors in southern and northern Negros Island provinces “in order to come up with a common protocol against ASF, hog cholera, and other swine diseases.”

Garcia invoked the “general welfare” clause of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code (LGC) in extending the ban on pigs and pork from Negros.

She also cited the devolved functions of the province in terms of its role in agriculture, especially in preventing and controlling animal pests and diseases.

“Under Section 465 of the LGC, the Provincial Government has the power to adopt adequate measures to safeguard and conserve the resources of the province in coordination with the mayors of the component cities and municipalities,” she added.

Cebu province continues to battle the African swine fever (ASF) virus in 12 localities.

The initial ban on the entry of live pigs and pork related products from Negros Island, expired April 6, based on EO 9 issued last month by Garcia.

Contrary to the claims of Garcia that ASF came from pigs mixed with hogs from Negros island, the provincial government of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental have maintained that they are ASF-free

The province of Negros Occidental and highly-urbanized Bacolod City have earlier issued the same ban on the entry of live pigs, boar semen, sows, piglets, and pork-related products from Cebu, due to the detection of ASF cases in the island province.

Negros Occidental’s hog industry is pegged at P6 billion.

Hog raisers from the province are now selling their products to Manila and other parts of Luzon at lower prices.

Dr. Jonic Natividad, regulatory head of the Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas, admitted that the extension of the ban by the provincial government of Cebu will affect hog raisers in Negros Occidental especially those who have clients in other parts of the Visayas.

They have to sell their products to Luzon or have it transported via the ports in Manila to reach Eastern Visayas, Natividad pointed out.

He appealed to consumers not to ask for too much discounts when buying pork and pork-based products.

The high cost of feeds and transport costs are affecting the prices of pork and pork products in the market, he added.* (NLG/EYA)