Bacolod lifts pork ban but checkpoint stays

B

ACOLOD CITY: The provincial government of Negros Occidental plans to keep the checkpoints at the borders of Bacolod as the city lifts its ban on the entry of pigs and pork products.

“That will be the direction,” Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Saturday, February 24.

The pronouncement of the governor comes on the heels of Joint Executive Order (EO) 1, Series of 2024, issued by Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, lifting the ban on the entry of live pigs, pork and pork by-products to the city.

Benitez said he signed the executive order on Friday, February 23, which consists with an updated Department of Agriculture (DA) circular and in order to avert any threat of shortage of basic food necessities.

This will allow the entry of pigs and pork products to Bacolod, even from red zones, Benitez said.

The mayor issued the Bacolod EO after he and Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson signed Joint EO 1, Series of 2024 on Friday.

It sets aside their joint EO in 2023 establishing the guidelines for the entry of pigs and pork products from areas with reported cases of African swine fever (ASF) effective immediately.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) had tagged Bacolod City as an ASF red zone and Negros Occidental as a dark green zone.

In view of the different classifications of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, and upon the recommendation of the DA, there is a need to set aside Joint EO 1, Series of 2023, in order for the two local government units to issue their respective guidelines on the entry of live pigs, pork, pork products and other pork-related food items from areas with reported cases of ASF, the new joint EO states.

Reached for his reaction, Lacson said, “It is what Mayor Albee deems fit for the City of Bacolod.”

Lacson said on Thursday that the provincial government will continue to implement its strict protocols on banning the entry of pigs and pork products into Negros Occidental.

“We will continue to follow our policy. We will continue to be strict with regards to the entry of pork products, especially from areas coded as red,” he said.

As far as Negros Occidental is concerned, Lacson said that “what is important is how to recover.”

“When we release our cash assistance to ASF-affected hog raisers in the province, we explain to them that they should not rush and just follow the protocol. There should be no shortcuts, because anytime we are hit again, many will suffer and will be affected. We want to return to the status as the province with the biggest backyard hog raisers,” he said.

Gov. Manuel Sagabarria of neighboring Negros Oriental signed on Wednesday EO 10, lifting the ban on the transport and movement of live pigs, pork products and by-products into the province.

By reopening the province’s borders to hog raisers, the governor aims to “create opportunities for businesses to flourish and contribute to a cost-effective market economy in Negros Oriental.”

The decision to lift the ban comes as a welcome relief to hog raisers and consumers alike who have been grappling with the aftermath of the ASF outbreak, Sagarbarria added.