Owners of culled pigs in QC get financial aid

Belmonte explained that her administration would give PHP3,000 for every culled pig and PHP1,500 for every culled piglet as financial assistance to the owners. (Unsplash Photo by Amber Kipp)

MANILA — The Quezon City (QC) government on Wednesday started providing financial assistance to hog raisers affected by the African swine fever (ASF) scare.

QC Mayor Joy Belmonte, in a statement, said the first recipients of cash assistance from the local government would be the owners of around 146 pigs in Barangay Bagong Silangan, which were culled in Sunday’s operations.

Belmonte explained that her administration would give PHP3,000 for every culled pig and PHP1,500 for every culled piglet as financial assistance to the owners.

“Hindi natin sila maaaring pabayaan, lalo na sa panahong kailangan nila ng tulong mula sa lokal na pamahalaan. Naririto kami para tumulong hanggang muli silang makabangon mula sa problemang ito (We can’t neglect them, especially during this time that they need the help of the government. We’re here to help them rise up from this problem),” she said.

Apart from the financial assistance, the local government will provide livelihood and scholarships to the affected families of illegal hog raisers so they can find new ways to earn a living.

As a preemptive measure, Belmonte ordered the immediate culling of pigs from Sitio Veterans and Oriole in Barangay Bagong Silangan after the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) confirmed that blood samples submitted from these areas tested positive for ASF.

“We went above and beyond DA’s (Department of Agriculture) protocol to ensure that the virus won’t spread to nearby areas so I ordered the immediate culling of the pigs,” she said.

City Veterinary Office chief Dr. Anamarie Cabel said the ‘1-7-10’ protocol requires the culling of infected animals.

Additional blood samples within the one-kilometer radius of the “ground zero” have been collected and submitted to the BAI for testing as part of the protocol.

According to the protocol, quarantine checkpoints must be set up in areas within a 1-kilometer radius of farms suspected of ASF infection in order to monitor the movement of live pigs, pork, and pork products.

Meanwhile, authorities must conduct surveillance and limit animal movement within a seven-kilometer radius.

Farm owners within the 10-kilometer radius are ordered to report any disease to the Department of Agriculture.

Belmonte also called on barangay officials within the 1-kilometer radius to cooperate by identifying informal backyard hog raisers and assist the Quezon City Veterinary Office in getting blood samples to be submitted to BAI for testing.

Cabel, for her part, called on hog raisers to immediately inform the City Veterinary Office in case of sick pigs.

The symptoms of ASF include high fever, nose bleeding and ear hemorrhage, among others.

While it is not harmful to humans, the ASF can wipe out an entire swine population.

Cabel also advised consumers to look for meat inspection certificate from retailers to ensure the meat they are buying is safe.