Cebu, Negros Oriental agree on common protocol vs ASF

CEBU, Philippines — The governors of Cebu and Negros Oriental have agreed to implement an identical biosecurity measures to protect the hog industry in their respective provinces from the highly contagious African Swine Fever (ASF).

 Negros Oriental Governor Manuel “Chaco” Sagabarria visited Governor Gwendolyn Garcia at the Cebu Capitol yesterday where they agreed to enter into a memorandum of agreement after discussing how the two provinces can address the threats of ASF.

“Nagsabot na mi ni Gov (Garcia) that we will create a MOA between the two provinces to make sure to follow the proper protocols and biosecurity,” Sagabarria told reporters during the press conference at the Capitol.

 Sagabarria said that local hog raisers from his province were badly affected after Cebu closed its borders for live hogs transported from Negros Oriental.

 “Kami pud vice versa nag problema pud sa Cebu because diri man sa Cebu i-process ang mga baboy. Once mahuman process here, it goes back gihapon to Negros,” Sagabarria said.

Local hog raisers and traders from both provinces will be benefited by having a common measure.

“Kinahanglan mi makabalo asa gikan ang baboy to make sure it is not infected…in that way we can secure our borders more, pero kani siya in this way, aside from securing borders, we will also support our local farmers kay atleast now maka cross gyud ang mga products,” Sagabarria added.

 He said that Negros Oriental is experiencing an oversupply of live hogs because of the restrictions resulting in the decrease of the price by P85 to P90 per kilo. Unlike Cebu, Sagabarria said he has not stopped the culling of pigs in Negros Oriental.  He said the provincial government continues the testing and culling of pigs that tested positive for ASF.

Sagabarria admitted that most of the dead pigs recorded in Negros Oriental were due to culling and not because of natural death.

Sagabarria was the first to respond to Garcia’s call for other local chief executives to work with Cebu for a common policy against ASF. Earlier, Garcia declared that Cebu is willing to open its borders for hogs coming from other LGUs in the country provided that there will be a MOA to be entered into for a uniform biosecurity measures.

 Sagabarria said that his province is willing to work together with Cebu by signing an agreement.

 “We will agree on each other. More or less the same measures, the same requirement in order for us to see what biosecurity protocol is needed… we will not follow more or less the zoning zoning, pero maybe before mo cross we can do immediate test for ASF or RT-PCR test. We can do that before crossing so that we can make sure nga the pigs that are crossing are not infected,” Sagabarria said.

The MOA will immediately take effect after the signing next week. — FPL (FREEMAN)