3,000 pigs culled in ASF-hit Pampanga town

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – At least 3,000 pigs infected with African swine fever (ASF) have been culled in San Simon town in this province.

“We have about 70 hog raisers, most of them in Barangays Concepcion and San Pedro... We have commercial and backyard raisers. All of them are suffering,” Mayor Abundio Punsalan Jr. said.

San Simon is the first town in Pampanga which confirmed that it was hit by ASF. Apalit and Candaba were also affected by the swine disease.

Punsalan said initial damage to the hog industry in San Simon due to ASF is P15 million.

He assured affected hog raisers of assistance from the local government and Department of Agriculture.

In Abra, 390 kilos of pork were seized from a bus at a quarantine checkpoint in San Quintin on Friday.

Rebecca Canlas, who said she was asked to deliver the meat to Bangued, failed to present the necessary permits.

Abra banned the entry of pork and processed meat from other areas amid the ASF scare.