The Antique Provincial Veterinary (ProVet) is implementing a 24/7 border checkpoint in the municipality of Pandan as a preventive measure against the entry of African swine fever (ASF). ProVet public health division chief Dr. Marco Rafael Ardamil, in an interview Monday, said the 24-hour border checkpoint, with the augmentation of personnel from the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) of the local government unit (LGU), has been implemented since April 14. 'Even during last weekend, the 24/7 border checkpoint was implemented to make sure that no hog, fresh or processed frozen pork from other places affected by the ASF could enter Antique,' Ardamil said. He said border control in the northern part of Antique was strengthened after the ASF case was reported in Barangay Arcangel in Balete, Aklan on April 13. This leaves Antique as the only ASF-free province in Panay Island since Iloilo and Capiz also recorded ASF incidents. 'Aside from the strengthened border checkpoint between Antique and Iloilo in the southern part of Antique, the border in the northern part had also been tightened to maintain our province as ASF-free,' Ardamil said. Ardamil said that since the hog industry in Antique is still safe for human consumption, thus Iloilo and Aklan sourced their supply from this province. 'Our hog raisers are allowed to transport their hogs to Iloilo and Aklan and other provinces in Panay island in order to help meet their local demand, but we are not accepting any incoming,' Ardamil. The current price of the live weight hog has reached PHP175 per kilogram, which is the highest ever recorded since October 2022 when Iloilo province reported its first ASF case. Before the ASF cases last year, the price ranged from PHP120 to PHP130 per kilogram, which gradually increased because of the demand.
Source: Philippines News Agency
