During the coordination meeting on the avian influenza outbreak at the Capitol here on Monday afternoon, Pineda appealed for calm and sobriety from the public as well as local government units (LGU) who banned the entry of any poultry products from Pampanga from entering their respective jurisdictions.
“Ano ang kanilang deklarasyon? Dapat sa San Luis lang, sa isang barangay at anim na farms. Ang nangyare kasi parang paiba-iba ang balita. Lahat daw ng poultry industry sa Pampanga damay (What is their declaration? It should only be San Luis, in a village there and six farms. What is happening is that there seems to be different news coming out. All the poultry industry in Pampanga is affected),” the governor lamented.
“Kaya nga yung planning officer ko ngayon pinagawan ko ng mapa na ipapakita namin sa TV na ito lang yung within the seven-kilometer radius at ito yung sa one kilometer na affected (That is why my planning officer will draw a map that we will show on TV that these are the only villages in the seven kilometer radius and this is what is inside the one kilometer affected area),” she said.
Present during the coordination meeting were mayors in Pampanga who said poultry owners are losing millions of pesos daily since the bird flu outbreak was confirmed last Friday.
“Hindi naman lahat ng Pampanga. Hindi naman sinabi ang sitwasyon ng lahat ng poultry farms,” they lamented as they urged the governor to also reconsider lifting the state of calamity she declared in the province as an off shoot of the outbreak.
But Pineda remained firm on her decision and said she will lift the state of calamity only in a few days after a complete inspection of the farms have been made.
However, the governor clarified that she is not in favor of banning poultry from other farms in Pampanga not affected by bird flu.
Dr. Ronnie D. Domingo, chief Animal Health and Welfare Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), said each farm should submit at least three birds for testing of their blood, saliva and stool samples.
Vice Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda urged the mayors to immediately submit samples to the BAI so that the seven-kilometer quarantine radius will be lifted by the Department of Agriculture (DA) the soonest.
Mayor John Sambo of Sto. Tomas town pointed out that his municipality is more than 10 kilometers away from San Luis and especially from the affected area in San Luis but complained that their poultry products are being barred from entering Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan and even the Ilocos region.
Sto. Tomas and its adjacent municipality of Minalin are known as the “egg basket” of Central Luzon because they produce a combine 15 million eggs daily.
Understanding
Candaba Mayor Danilo Baylon also appealed for understanding. He said Candaba is bird flu-free but they are affected by the ban.
The mayor said actual inspection showed that only 1.5 percent mortality rate has been observed in their farms which is normal. “Wala pang mortality ang itik at ang mga itlog ay healthy (There are no mortality in the geese and their eggs are healthy),” he said.
But the mayor lamented that the poultry owners now see an 80 percent decline in their business.
A DA memorandum circular signed by assistant secretary Dr. Enrico P. Garzon Jr. dated August 14 has banned the movement of live domestic and wild birds including poultry meat, day old chicks, eggs, semen and manure from Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao to prevent the spread of the bird fl u virus.
“I will resign if this happens,” said DA Secretary Manny Pinol.
But Pineda is appealing for understanding saying farms outside the quarantine area of seven-kilometer radius should be certified bird flu free after inspection.
“Kailangan linawin nilang mabuti (They should clarify is more clearly). Napaka critical kasi ang kanilang declaration na seven-kilometer radius kasama ang 60 barangays ng San Fernando, San Simon, Mexico at yung one kilometer affected area na may dalawang barangays (Their declaration is very critical on the seven kilometer radius that includes 60 villages in San Fernando, San Simon and Mexico as well as the one kilometer radius affected area which includes two villages),” she said.
Shipment permit
In the meantime, Pineda said farm owners should get a “shipment permit” from the DA to move their poultry and once these are certified as bird fl u free, the LGUs should not ban them from their areas.
Dr. Augusto Baluyut Jr. provincial veterinarian, said some 200,000 birds including fighting cocks are now in the process of being culled in the one kilometer radius affected area.
The birds are being subjected to carbon dioxide poisoning and were buried under ground.
Dr. Domingo said “at the moment, the immediate and urgent focus is to secure the small barangay in affected area and the suspended farms there will be subjected to mass de population and the suspected materials from the area should be secured and disinfected. Then let’s count 90 days from now and if there won’t be any more bird flu contamination after examination from our laboratories or any positive case, the World Organization for Animal Health will restore our bird flu free status.”
