HOG raisers and business owners planning to sell their hogs to Cebu Province can now obtain the required shipping permit, one of the documents required by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
This development comes after the BAI resumed issuing shipping permits for hogs entering Cebu Province, Constante de Jesus Palabrica, Assistant Secretary for Swine and Poultry at the Department of Agriculture, said in a statement released by the Capitol’s public information office (PIO) following a meeting with Governor Gwendolyn Garcia on Nov. 21, 2024.Garcia welcomed the resumption of shipping permits and urged Palabrica to hold BAI accountable for the significant economic losses caused to Cebu’s hog industry by its previous policies. “I know your heart is with the local hog industry, having been part of it for over 44 years. You’re the right person for this,” Garcia told Palabrica. In April, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. appointed Palabrica as the officer-in-charge (OIC) director of BAI, “effectively taking control of an agency that has been uncooperative with the Cebu Provincial Government,” the Capitol PIO said in the statement.During the meeting, Palabrica explained that previous BAI offices had misinterpreted a Court of Appeals (CA) injunction, which had been issued against the agency’s hog culling and zone-mapping policies.“I’m a farmer from Robina , so when I took over, we studied it, and you’re right,” Palabrica told Garcia, referring to the CA injunction against BAI, adding that the agency’s previous officer had misinterpreted the order as a prohibition on issuing shipping permits.“The writ of preliminary injunction actually orders the BAI to refrain from its hog culling and zone-mapping policy in relation to a supposed outbreak of ASF (African swine fever),” the Capitol PIO said.Palabrica said he immediately instructed his team to issue shipping permits for all pigs entering Cebu.On Oc