Officials from Department of Agriculture, National Meat Inspection Service, Cebu Province and stakeholders gather for the 26th Meat Safety Consciousnes Week and 47th NMIS Anniversary held at DA Compound in Mandaue City on Oct. 17, 2019. | CDND Photo/Norman V. Mendoza
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) and the Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas were firm on their stand to uphold the ban of the entry to the region, especially to Cebu, of hogs and pork products from other parts of the country and from nations affected by African Swine Fever (ASF).
This was as announced by Dr. Eduardo Oblena, NMIS Region 7 acting director, in a speech during the celebration of the 26th Meat Safety Consciousness Week during the 47th NMIS anniversary program held at the DA-7 compound in Sudlon Maguikay, Mandaue City on Thursday, October 17, 2019.
“Again we would like to the people to know that our local pork is safe to eat as we are ASF free and very vigilant enough of the entry of imported pork and pork from outside Cebu,” said Dr. Oblena in a separate interview with CDN Digital.
He explained that despite the call of the DA central office, meat importers and hog farmers outside of Cebu to lift the ban, the NMIS and DA here are with the Cebu province in enforcing the ban.
“This is to protect our hog industry here and if we are not able to protect them from any epidemic diseases especially the African Swine Fever, it kills the hog industry,” added Oblena.
He also pointed that the initial fear of Cebu’s consumers to purchase pork and pork products after ASF was confirmed to have affected hogs in Luzon, has started to wane. This was due to continuing awareness campaign of all concerned agencies to assure consumers that the pork and pork products they are buying in Cebu are from locally raised hogs, he added.
ASF has no effect on humans but a person who consumes pork meat from dead hogs, which died because of ASF, might suffer some health issues, he warned.
Any hog raiser will need to report to and secure clearance from NMIS before any emergency slaughter of hogs, he added.
Oblena called on the public and the hog raisers to remain vigilant so that ASF would not be able to enter the region.
“Meat safety is everyone’s responsibility,” he said.
Dr. Joel Elumba, DA-7’s regional technical director, likewise assured that they are taking all precautionary measures to ensure that Central Visayas will remain ASF-free.
“(DA) Secretary (Eduardo) Año has agreed with us that ban on pork entry in Cebu stays,” said Elumba.
Rolando Tambago, Central Visayas Pork Producers Cooperative (CeViPPco) president, said the supply of meat in Cebu is still sufficient despite the ban.
However, he said, there could be a slight increase in the prices of meat products such as hams, sausages in Cebu markets during the Christmas season.
Meanwhile, the celebration at the DA compound had lunch fares that included roasted pigs, pork meatballs and pork barbecue to show that the local pork products are safe to eat./elb