MOALBOAL authorities intercepted a truck carrying 60 live hogs in Barangay Tuble early Tuesday, Sept. 1, after the driver failed to present the veterinary, quarantine and transport permits required for the movement of livestock amid Cebu’s African swine fever (ASF) controls.
The Moalboal Police Station said in a statement released Wednesday, Sept. 2, that police and personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard’s detachment in the town stopped a truck around 1 a.m. during a joint operation.
The truck was found carrying the live hogs, police said. The driver, however, could not present the required permits for transporting and bringing the animals into the area, according to police. The only document he produced was an Aug. 28 certification from Barangay Lanao, an upland barangay in Moalboal, stating that he owned 50 hogs.
The certification accounted for 10 fewer hogs than those found in the truck. Police said the barangay certification did not satisfy the legal requirements for transporting the animals.
The driver and the truck were brought to the police station for documentation, while the hogs were turned over to the Municipal Agriculture Office for proper handling.
Photos posted on the Moalboal police’s Facebook page showed the hogs on the ground inside an excavated area. The circumstances surrounding the animals’ disposition, including whether they were quarantined, tested, culled or otherwise disposed of, remained unclear as of Thursday, Sept. 3.
VoxPop Cebu sought clarification from the Moalboal police and Municipal Agriculture Office on the disposition of the hogs and the status of the driver. Police said they would need clearance from their chief before issuing further statements, while calls and messages to Municipal
Agriculture Officer Rossini Deniega went unanswered.
Provincial Veterinary Office Head Mary Rose Vincoy was also unavailable as she was attending a seminar in Manila.
The interception came amid heightened provincial restrictions on the movement of swine and pork products from ASF-affected areas.
Gov. Pamela Baricuatro signed Executive Order 44 on Aug. 20, extending for another 45 days the Province’s restrictions on live hogs and pork products from Negros Island and other ASF-affected areas following confirmed ASF infections in several towns in Negros Oriental.
The order also directs authorities to tighten inspections at ports and other points of entry. / CDF
