DILG asks LGUs to ensure hogs entry ban aligned with national plan amid ASF

The Department of the Interior and Local Government on Sunday urged local government units to make sure their executive orders ordering a ban on the entry of hogs and other related products are aligned with national policies and directives.

DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said such orders, issued by LGUs in response to the threat of African swine fever, should not impede the flow of cargoes across boundaries.

“Although the conscientious efforts of LGUs to mitigate the spread of the ASF in their respective jurisdictions are needed, they still have to ensure that their local policies and directive are aligned and consistent with those of the national government,” he said in a statement.

Malaya said LGUs should coordinate with the field offices of the Department of Agriculture to ensure executive orders are consistent with the ASF zoning classification system.

The DA's zoning plan classifies areas as either containment zones or free zones. "Containment Zone [is] where concerted activities are implemented to contain ASF and isolate the ASF disease towards full eradication," the DILG said. The free zone on the other hand is the area that remains free from ASF.

The DILG through Memorandum Circular No. 2021-00 urged LGUs to review their executive orders and align objectives with presidential and national issuances with regards to preventing and controlling ASF.

DILG Officer-in-Charge Bernardo Florece Jr. said flow of cargoes must not be hampered as stated in the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) Resolution No. 14 and Presidential Administrative Order No. 22, series of 2020. 

The IATF said in the resolution that movement of food and non-food cargo during the enhanced community quarantine should be unimpeded so as to prevent any shortage in food staples. —KG, GMA News