MANILA: The municipality of Sibalom in Antique sought the approval of the Department of Agriculture (DA) for upgrading to pink or buffer zone status from its current red or African swine fever (ASF) - infected zone. The reclassification into the pink zone is a requirement before swine farmers embark on a sentinelling program to determine if the virus is still present in the area. Dr. Marco Rafael Ardamil, chief of the Public Health Division of the Antique Provincial Veterinary said it's almost a year since the last case of ASF was recorded by the Antique Swine Production and Artificial Insemination Center (ASPAIC) in Barangay Pangpang. The ASPAIC provided piglets that were dispersed by the provincial government as a livelihood project for Antiqueños. Ardamil said the municipality submitted its application to the regional office of DA two weeks ago. In the meantime, the municipality of San Jose de Buenavista will conduct an orientation on sentinelling Wednesday after progressing from red to pink. 'There will be around 100 hog-raisers who could receive piglets for free for sentinelling after the orientation,' Ardamil said. He said that a hog raiser, allocated with three piglets, could initially receive one piglet from DA for sentinelling and eventually start the repopulation program once they survive. Ardamil said the ASF vaccine, mentioned by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in his third State of the Nation Address on Monday, is undergoing trial so that hog raisers will no longer incur millions of losses. (PNA) Source: Philippines News Agency