The Dumanjug Municipal Police Station intercepted a motorized banca carrying 79 undocumented pigs from Negros Oriental along the shoreline of Barangay Kanyuko, Dumanjug, Cebu last Friday.

This was confirmed to DAILY TRIBUNE by Dumanjug Mayor Efren Guntrano Gica, who has been proactive in tackling hog smuggling, with Dumanjug’s swine monitoring task force active for over a year.

The Dumanjug police coordinated with the Municipal Livestock Coordinator and the Philippine Coast Guard, who joined the seizure operation.

Upon arriving at the site, authorities discovered an abandoned motor banca, a Mazda truck, and a Suzuki multicab loaded with the undocumented pigs. The unmarked banca and the Cebu-registered vehicles were confiscated, and the hogs were seized.

“I am very disappointed, but this is also a challenge for us,” Gica said.

Reports from barangay chairpersons revealed that boats allegedly originating from Negros Island continued to dock on Dumanjug’s coastal areas, transporting smuggled pigs into Cebu Province through the municipality.

On the evening of 25 October, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia signed Executive Order 16 Series of 2024, creating the “Anti-Smuggling Inter-Agency Task Force” after receiving reports that undocumented hogs were entering Cebu through local government units facing Negros, including Dumanjug.

Garcia insisted that aside from taking away the LGU’s right to collect proper fees, the illegal entry of hogs could pose health hazards to Cebuano consumers, as these hogs would reach the market without prior approvals from regulatory bodies.

The governor also issued Memorandum 36-2024 addressed to the municipal mayors of Barili, Dumanjug, Alcantara, Ronda, Moalboal, Badian, Alegria, Malabuyoc, Ginatilan, Samboan and Santander.

It requested the mayors to create their own task groups to combat the smuggling of livestock, goods and other cargoes in the shorelines of Cebu and/or other ports within Cebu province.