Despite ban, pork products from Luzon entered Cebu

CEBU CITY –– Despite the ban imposed by the Cebu provincial government, several pork products from Luzon and countries affected by the African Swine Fever (ASF) still made it to several areas in Cebu.

Provincial Veterinarian Rose Vincoy, co-chair of the Cebu African Swine Fever Task Force, said at least P77,684.85 worth of meat products from Luzon were confiscated in the province last week.

Vincoy said they also confiscated Mekeni Food products, which had recently recalled their pork products in the market due to possible ASF contamination.

The confiscated pork meat, mostly hotdogs, tocino, longganiza, and chicharon, were brought to the incinerator facility in Mandaue City, Cebu.

The Cebu ASF Task Force had rounded up these pork products from supermarkets, groceries and wet markets across the province.

On October 23, they conducted surprise inspections in a supermarket in Toledo City, Cebu and confiscated more than P12,000 worth of pork products that came from some areas in Luzon.

Task Force members also seized pork products worth P4,000 in Dumanjug town, P55,358 worth from a supermarket in Moalboal town and PP6,338 worth from Carcar City.

Vincoy said they would continue to conduct surprise inspections as they believed more supermarkets were violating the executive order issued by Gov. Gwen Garcia, which banned pork products from ASF-infested areas.

Cebu is the largest pork-producing province in Central Visayas. It ranked 4th in the entire country.

Data from the provincial agriculture office showed that Cebu residents yearly consume 61.6 million kilos of pork, while tourists account for 1.8 million kilos, mostly from Cebu lechon (roasted pig).

Cebu pork producers have sold 99,898 metric tons of pork in 2018, which is valued at P10,982,180,000.