MEETING. Barili Mayor Pablo John IV (right) holds a meeting about the African swine fever in his office. The mayor issued a memorandum that temporarily bans the trading of pigs at the Mantalongon Livestock Market, the biggest livestock market in Cebu Province. / CONTRIBUTED
This could affect hog raisers who flock to the “tabo” or market day in Mantalongon, which is held every Thursday.
Barili Mayor Pablo John Garcia IV ordered the temporary ban in a memorandum he issued on Tuesday, March 7. The Facebook post of the Barili Information Office last Friday, March 10 does not state the duration of the temporary ban.
Earlier this week, Mayor Garcia also issued Executive Order (EO) 4, creating the town’s ASF Task Force, which is primarily tasked to prevent the entry of the disease into the town.
The task force has established checkpoints in Barangays Sayaw, Dakit and Mantalongon, which are the main entry points for livestock traders. The hogs that tested positive for ASF in Carcar City last March 1 were kept in a stockyard alongside animals transported from Negros Island.
Mantalongon Livestock Market sits on a seven-hectare lot where thousands of pigs, chickens, goats, cattles and other products are sold. “Traders and farmers come from many faraway towns in Cebu, while others come from other provinces or islands like Negros and Leyte,” the Barili Municipal Government said in its website.
The Barili Municipal Government also adopted EO 9 and EO 9-B issued by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia into local EO 6 and EO 7, series of 2023, calling for the implementation of strict measures like surveillance and monitoring, transport prohibition and veterinary checkpoints to protect the local hog industry.
“Importante kini, ilabi na nga naa ras pikas lungsod ang nakit-ang confirmed ASF cases (These are important, especially that the confirmed ASF cases are just in the nearby city),” Mayor Garcia said in a press statement.
Governor Garcia issued EO 9 and EO 9-B banning meat and live hogs from Carcar City, including pork products and byproducts.
However, EO 9-B exempts products and byproducts that have already been cooked and packaged like chicharon (pork cracklings).
Barili is in the buffer zone (pink) in the latest ASF Alert Map, which means that is one of the areas adjacent to the infected zone (red). The other towns in the buffer zone are Sibonga, San Fernando and Aloguinsan.
