ILOILO CITY – The province of Iloilo is celebrating a pork festival to counter the negative impact of rising African Swine Fever (ASF) cases.
“This is our way forward. Let us strengthen our backyard (hog raisers) so we can fight ASF,” said Gov. Arthur Defensor.
Defensor has signed an executive order for the ‘’Pork Festival Kontra ASF’’ as part of a four-way strategy on prevention, containment, depopulation, and recovery.
Seven towns in Iloilo have confirmed cases of ASF – Oton, San Miguel, Santa Barbara, Alimodian, Leganes, New Lucena, and Mina.
Many of the local governments in the 42 towns and component city of Iloilo are holding their respective pork festivals.
One of the strategies in curbing the spread of ASF is depopulating the hog population or the mercy killing of pigs raised in backyard farms with recorded ASF cases.
Officials have said that pork or pork by-products are still safe for human consumption as long these are properly cleaned and cooked.
“We want to take this opportunity to realize and motivate the hog industry to add value to pork so we can create a value chain,” said Defensor.
The Iloilo Provincial Veterinary Office led by Dr. Darel Tabuada is spearheading counter-ASF measures while the Iloilo Provincial Tourism Office led by Gilbert “Bombette” Marin is coordinating with the 43 local governments for the pork festival.
Each local government can celebrate the pork festival with various activities such as a cooking contest or contest for best ‘’lechon’’ (roasted pig).
The provincial government will give financial aid to affected hog raisers.