Negros stands firm in fight to thwart threats to swine, poultry sector

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BACOLOD CITY — The battle to protect the swine and poultry industries of Negros Occidental and Bacolod against the avian influenza (AI) and African Swine Fever (ASF) will continue.

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday, Feb. 13, that Negros Occidental and Bacolod will continue to jointly ban the entry of pork and poultry products from areas hit by AI and ASF.

“We are very serious in our campaign against anything that will threaten our livelihood, whether it’s pork or chickens… Losing these industries will have a long term effect on the province that we cannot afford,” he said.

On the burning of the P1.4 million worth of eggs seized at the BREDCO port on Feb. 5, 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 entry.

If the point of origin cannot be determined, it will be dangerous, 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.

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