Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia | CDN Digital file photo — Irene Sino Cruz
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu’s borders will soon be off limits to pork and pork-related products from provinces that have not protected their borders against against those Luzon-sourced pork and pork products.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in a press conference on Monday, December 9, 2019, said she would be issuing a new executive border expanding the total pork ban on provinces that either did not have an existing ban or whose ban effectivity would soon lapse but had not taken any measure to extend it.
Garcia earlier extended the province’s total ban on the entry of pork and pork-related products from Luzon until June 2020 due to the continuing incidence of the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus in Luzon provinces.
Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Mary Rose Vincoy said they were still finalizing the list of the provinces that had no executive order in effect or those that would be lifting the ban.
“In all likelihood (we will include them in the ban) because we could no longer be sure that they would not be used as conduits for the banned products from Luzon,” said Garcia.
The Capitol has implemented, since August 2019, stringent requirements for meat products entering Cebu to protect the province’s P10.9 billion hog industry against the ASF virus.
Recently, Garcia also issued an executive order expanding the ban to other meat products that have comingled with pork products from Luzon. /dbs