Cebu City, Southern Leyte lift ban on Mindanao pork products

MANILA, Philippines – Cebu City and the province of Southern Leyte have lifted their ban on pork products from Mindanao, which was hit by the African swine fever (ASF), Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a statement on Friday, May 1. 

Dar said Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella and Southern Leyte Governor Damian Mercado had issued executive orders that would now allow Mindanao’s hogs, pork, and pork by-products to be traded and processed in their jurisdictions. 

Visayas was the only one of the Philippines’ 3 island groups that remained free of the ASF, which has killed pigs across Asia since 2018. Since August 2019 when it was first detected in the Philippines, it has spread in Luzon; it reached Mindanao in February, prompting local governments in the Visayas to ban hogs and pork products from the affected islands. 

Earlier in the week, the agriculture department said hog raisers in Mindanaoan cities of Cagayan de Oro, Davao, and General Santos had committed to supply the Visayas and Luzon with 1,700 metric tons of surplus pork products. This was in response to the latest supply outlook that the country might be facing a one-month shortage of pork. – Rappler.com 

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