The Provincial Veterinary Office distributed power sprayers and biosecurity kits to the Barangay Biosecurity Officers (BBO) in all municipalities in the province in a bid to continue its status as African Swine Fever (ASF) free.
Provincial Veterinarian Flora Bigot said these kits which came from the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 12 will be used for disease monitoring and surveillance of ASF in the province.
Included inside the kits are disposal gloves, alcohol masking tape, animal crayon, permanent marker, vacutainer disposable mask, cotton tip applicator, pig snare, flashlight, cotton needle plus adapter, and collecting the sample.
It also came with an icebox which includes an ice pack gel, scooper at the surgical head cap.
Bigot expressed her gratitude to partner agencies and the private sector for the support extended to their office in the fight against the ASF which makes the province still considered as a green zone.
“For two years in a row, we were not affected by the ASF, we maintained our status as ASF-free.” Bigot happily announces.
She added that affected hog farms especially in Luzon rely on their supply from asf-free areas like South Cotabato. All over the country, at least 2981 barangays in 579 cities and municipalities were affected and in Region 12, five towns and a city were affected in the nearby province of Cotabato.
To ensure that the province maintains its status, the South Cotabato Board has passed Ordinance Number 36 series of 2020 which prescribes the policies regulatory guidelines, and precautionary measures to prevent the entry of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the province of South Cotabato. This ordinance also sets penalties for any violators.
South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. also issued Executive Order no. 3 which prohibits the entry of any pork products, fresh or processed from affected areas such as Region 10 and Region 11.
Tamayo commends the efforts of the PVET and its partner agencies in the fight against ASF.
Aside from partner agencies, the PVET acknowledges the help of Barangay Biosecurity Officers in the barangays levels is very important.
Earlier, with the assistance of the Agriculture Training Institute (ATI), at least 130 BBOs were trained on Specimen Collection at ATI-RTC XII, Tantangan, South Cotabato. The training is also a collaborative effort of the provincial government through the PVET and the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in support of the implementation of Administrative Order No. 7, Series of 2021 or Bantay ASF sa Barangay Program (BAbay ASF).
The turn-over ceremony was conducted early this week spearheaded by Governor Reynaldo S. Tamayo Jr., Boardmember Antonio Fungan, and other provincial officials.
