ILOILO CITY, March 15 -- As Western Visayas gears for recovery from the effects of African swine fever, six local government units (LGUs) in the region have approved applications for zone progression in preparation for sentinelling.

"Zone progression is the first step to change their status from red into pink zone. They have complied with the documents, and we still have seven pending approval by the Bureau of Animal Industry," Dr. Jonic Natividad, Regulatory Division chief of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Western Visayas, said Thursday.

The approved applications are from the towns of San Miguel and Sta. Barbara in Iloilo, Buenavista and Jordan in Guimaras, Pulupandan in Negros Occidental, and San Jose, Antique.

Seventy-seven L...