President Rody Duterte visits San Fernando, Pampanga today to lead poultry farmers and local officials in a “boodle fight” consisting of chicken barbecue, “balut” and fried duck to reassure consumers that poultry products are safe to eat.
An initial amount of P29-M will also be released to the poultry farmers of San Luis, Pampanga and the towns of Jaen and San Isidro, Nueva Ecija as compensation for the chicken, ducks and quails which were killed as part of the clean-up operations against the Bird Flu virus.
The President’s visit comes 18 days after laboratory tests confirmed the outbreak of the Avian Influenza initially in the town of San Luis which killed about 37,000 poultry before it was reported.
Subsequent laboratory tests also confirmed the presence of the AI virus in the towns of Jaen and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija located close to San Luis.
To contain the problem, the Bureau of Animal Industry’s Avian Influenza Task Force quarantined the areas and killed all fowls within the 1-kilometer radius of the farms affected.
A total of 667,184 chicken, ducks and quails was culled.
The initial amount released today includes P20,723,797 for the farmers of San Luis, Pampanga and four more farms in Jaen and San Isidro, Nueva Ecija.
The P29-M is the first payment to be released of the total P43.31-M which the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries will release to all farmers in the area whose fowls were killed.
The Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) will also turn over to the Rural Bank of San Luis P20-M which will be released as assistance and no-collateral, no-interest loans to farm workers and farmers affected by the outbreak.
The President is expected to announce today additional support and assistance to farmers who were adversely affected by the Avian Influenza outbreak, the first to hit the country since the poultry disease was reported in 2005.
The three towns have been cleared and disinfection operations have been completed.
President Duterte’s display of support is expected to help the poultry industry get back on its feet.
(Pres. Duterte’s photo taken by Reuters while the photos of the checks for San Luis, Pampanga were taken by me early today.)
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