“May I repeat this to all Cebuanos, you can eat it,” Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said of Carcar City’s lechon.
But those who give the leftovers to pigs will be dealt with accordingly.
“That’s non-negotiable. No swill feeding. That is the only way that a pig can be infected, when he eats infected meat,” Garcia said.
“It’s a national policy. They are allowing sausages, chicharon, the processed food. But this is also cooked. And in fact it is allowed by the region ang mogawas nga luto kay lami lagi (that cooked pork products will go out because this is delicious),” Garcia said.
Under Department of Agriculture Administrative Circular 2, series of 2022, “processed meat products (cooked)” from red (infected zones) which have been “subjected to temperature of at least 70 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes such as but not limited to hotdogs, ham, chicharon, lechon and other canned pork products can be moved across all colored zones.”
The colored zones are red (infected zone), pink (buffer zone), yellow (surveillance zone), light green (protected zone), and dark green (free zone).
The governor’s announcement comes after lechon sellers in Carcar City reported lower sales of lechon not only to Carcar residents but also to customers from outside Carcar following the announcement on March 6 that ASF had been detected in Carcar’s pigs last March 1.
On March 13, pork vendors at the Lapu-Lapu City Public Market also reported a drop in sales after ASF was reported in Carcar, citing consumers’ fears of eating pork following the ASF announcement.
This prompted Lapu-Lapu City Public Administrator Maria Elena Caballes to tell SunStar Cebu that pork sold in the city’s markets come from suppliers in northern Cebu, and not in the south where Carcar City is located. ASF is not a threat to human health, but it is fatal to pigs.
Earlier, Garcia had ordered the isolation of Carcar from the rest of the Province due to the presence of ASF there.
Under Executive Order (EO) 9-B issued last March 6, she ordered a ban on the entry of live hogs, swine genetic materials, pork and pork-related products (fresh/frozen pork products and uncooked processed pork products) from Carcar City to the other cities and towns within the Province of Cebu. Her EO, however, already excluded “cooked and canned processed pork products” from the ban.
Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue City’s bans on pork products from Carcar also excluded cooked and canned or processed pork products. (ANV / TPT, KAL, CTL, MKG)