The battle to protect the swine and poultry industries of Negros Occidental and Bacolod against Avian Influenza (AI) and African Swine Fever (ASF) will continue, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Monday, February 13.
Negros Occidental and Bacolod City will continue to jointly ban the entry of pork and poultry products from areas hit by AI and ASF, Lacson said.
“We are very serious in our campaign against anything that will threaten our livelihood, whether its pork or chickens… Losing these industries will have a long term effect to the province that we cannot afford,” he said.
On the burning of the P1.4 million worth of eggs seized at the BREDCO port, Lacson said “let’s not take a chance” against the local poultry industry being hit by bird flu
Bacolod City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting Jr. said the papers for the eggs that were destroyed were fake, so there was no way of determining their real point of origin.
If the point of origin cannot be determined, it will be dangerous, he said.
Intensified operations against the entry of the banned products will continue, he said.
Ting also wants an ordinance passed that will provide stringent penalties against violators of the ban, and allow the confiscation of their vehicles.*