Negros to sustain fight vs. ASF, Bird Flu

BACOLOD CITY – Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has vowed to sustain the fight against the African swine fever and Bird Flu in an effort to protect the province’s multi-billion swine and poultry industry, and the livelihood of Negrenses.

“We’re very serious (with bird flu) as serious as we are with ASF. Anything that will threaten our livelihood, especially livestock. Whether it’s pork or chicken, we will continue to protect it. You must remember that losing this industry could have a very long-term effect on the province that we cannot afford,” Lacson told reporters.

This was Lacson’s assurance after veterinary quarantine personnel disposed of some P1.4 million worth of undocumented eggs that entered Bredco port here recently. The seized shipment of 240,000 pieces or 8,000 trays of eggs arrived on a delivery truck en route to Iloilo.

According to the city government, the fake and expired shipper's permit presented at the port showed the eggs supposedly came from D. Santillan Piggery Farm in the village of Mancilang in Madridejos town in Cebu’s Bantayan Island which is not covered by the poultry ban in Negros Occidental and Bacolod. With the lack of proper documents, however, veterinary quarantine personnel could not confirm whether the eggs indeed came from a bird flu-free area.

City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting Jr. said the shipper failed to present all the other pertinent documents, including a veterinary health certificate; certification that the eggs were sourced from farms with no incidence of avian influenza in the past 14 days before shipment; veterinary shipping permit from the Bureau of Animal Industry; and certificate of acceptance from the Provincial Veterinary Office of Negros Occidental.

Lacson also noted that the province is cooperating with the city government in keeping watch over the prohibited poultry and pork products entering the Bredco port. “They have agreed to join us in our fight against avian flu and also ASF. It became the responsibility of Bacolod city government to handle those eggs that were left behind here,” he said, adding, the eggs could not just be shipped back to the place of origin since the owners of the shipment have already instructed the delivery truck personnel to just leave the eggs at the port.

Negros Occidental, which has an P8-billion poultry industry, has prohibited the entry of live birds and poultry products, such as meat and eggs, from areas affected by the bird flu in December last year.

Having a P6-billion hog industry, the province has banned pork and its by-products from ASF-affected areas, the latest of which include the neighboring islands of Panay and Guimaras. (Nanette Guadalquiver)