(File photo courtesy of DA) LEGAZPI CITY - At least 40 of the more than 350 hog raisers here have received imported piglets as a major component of the rapid repopulation, restocking, and genetic improvement and enhancement livestock program of the City Veterinary Office (CVO). In an interview on Tuesday, CVO chief Dr. Emmanuel Estipona said the recipients were all pre-registered at the Legazpi Livestock Poultry Raisers Agriculture Cooperative (LLPRAC) and the Registry System for Basic Sector for Agriculture (RSBSA). "We started the dispersal of hybrid female piglets from October last year as the recipients received two piglets each and we are just waiting for another batch of piglets from the farm of R. Palanca General Merchandise, Inc. so that we will continue to distribute piglets to the remaining 310 hog raisers beneficiaries," he said. Estipona said Legazpi City is the first local government unit in Bicol to implement a massive repopulation stocking program -- in partnership with the Palancacompany owned by the family of businessman Robert Palanca -- after its swine industry was affected by African swine fever (ASF) in 2020. All the hog raisers have undergone a bio-security seminar regarding the design of pig hedges and proper feeding and management of imported hogs, he noted. "All the piglets distributed to the hog raisers were registered in the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) to make sure they can claim money if their piglets are hit by animal diseases," Estipona said. He said after seven months, the Palanca company will conduct artificial insemination on the female pigs to make sure their bloodlines will remain hybrid. Once the hogs have produced offspring, each of the swine raisers will give two piglets to the CVO to be distributed again to the other hog raisers, Estipona said. (PNA) }