Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Pinol made this assurance on August 14 in the wake of the avian flu virus that hit San Luis, Pampanga and triggering a scare that brought chicken prices down. 

“Yung takot natin na yung manok galing sa contained area sa Pampanga, hindi po totoo yon,” he said. “In fact, now is the best time to buy chicken. Murang mura pa.”

Since the discovery of the virus, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries immediately set up a one- kilometer ground zero to contain the outbreak and another seven kilometers of controlled area to limit the movement of affected birds.

 Checkpoints have also been set up in various places around “several Pampanga towns and municipalities,”Pinol said.

 Culling, according to Pinol, started last Saturday with more than 18,000 birds already destroyed.

“So dun sa mga nagsasabi na delikadong kumain ng mga manok dahil galing daw sa Pampanga, huwag po tayong maniwala don. Let’s leave this problem to the experts. In fact it has been confirmed by four laboratory tests that the virus is negative for H5N1 or the type that can cross over to humans,” he said.

 Affected by the outbreak are more than 18,000 broilers as well as nine layer farms, four quail farms and a similar number of duck farms in San Carlos and Sta. Rita also in Pampanga.

 The affected broiler population comprises only seven percent of the national production, according to Pinol.

 An initial allocation of P50 million has been readied by the government for displaced farmers and growers. It will consist of P20,000 no-interest loan and P5,000 in grant as loan assistance.

 Growers who also give up their birds for culling will be given P80 per bird.

The amount could reach P16 million for the estimated 200,000 birds that would be destroyed.

“Contrary to several critics who do nothing but criticize, this only goes to show that the Duterte administration is a very caring and sensitive government,” he said. 

In a calamity situation such as this, you can always rest assured that we will help our brethren get over this crisis,” Pinol said.

 Pinol said he will be going to Pampanga Tuesday/August 15  to further assess the situation and help process the loan packages to affected raisers.

 Asked on the possibility of other areas being affected by the outbreak, Pinol said: “With God’s grace, wala pa naman tayong namomonitor na iba. And with everybody’s vigilance, Im confident we will survive.# # # (DA-OSEC)

Reference:

DA Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol