The Negros Occidental provincial government’s financial assistance to hog raisers whose pigs died from various diseases will help in the rehabilitation of their businesses, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Tuesday, September 12.
The delay in the release of the P2,000 assistance to each affected hog raiser can be considered a blessing since they are still in the process of decontaminating their areas affected by swine deaths, he said.
“With guv’s approval we are considering it a rehabilitation fund instead of indemnification for what they lost”, Diaz said.
Sentinels will be set up to determine if areas are safe for the resumption of hog raising, he said.
If they are safe the provincial government will conduct a pig dispersal program along with the release of the financial assistance for their start up, Diaz said.
Meanwhile, Diaz said the province is expected to face a pig shortage towards the end of the year because of previous pig deaths.
Prices of pork have also gone up, he said.
However, the pig inventory in commercial farms in Negros Occidental is still high, Diaz said.
The backyard raisers were the ones most affected by the pig deaths, he added.*