Batangas province placed under state of calamity due to ASF

LUCENA CITY — The provincial government of Batangas on Monday, Aug. 12, declared a state of calamity in the province due to the spread of African swine fever (ASF) and its impact on the local hog industry.

“The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Batangas has approved today, August 12, 2024, the motion for the declaration of the province of Batangas under a STATE OF CALAMITY due to the effects of African Swine Fever (ASF),” the Batangas Public Information Office (PIO) reported in a post on its Facebook page.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) led by Gov. Hermilando Mandanas recommended the declaration based on its Resolution No. 15.

READ: Batangas town under state of calamity due to ASF

This will enable the local government to use its calamity funds to assist local hog raisers.

As of Friday, Aug. 9, at least 40 barangays in Lipa City and the towns of Calatagan, Lian, Lobo, Rosario, San Juan, Talisay, and Tuy reported ASF cases, the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the Calabarzon region said.

On Aug. 6 the municipal council of Lobo declared the town under a state of calamity due to the spread of ASF and its impact on the local hog industry.

Authorities in Lobo reported that as of July 31, at least 8,818 pigs died due to ASF. The report said the outbreak resulted in market losses of about P103,338,000.

The DA announced on Friday that the target availability of 10,000 doses of ASF vaccines would arrive in the third week of August.

While waiting for the availability of ASF vaccines in the country, authorities said hog farmers should strictly implement biosecurity measures to protect hogs from infections.

The World Organization for Animal Health described ASF as “a highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs” with no available vaccine, causing a 100-percent mortality rate.

While it rarely infects humans, meat from infected pigs should not be consumed.

The Batangas PIO also reported that the declaration of the state of calamity in the province due to the widespread destruction caused by Supertyphoon Carina (international name: Gaemi) and enhanced southwest monsoon (“habagat”) last month was lifted on Monday.