DA to release aid to farmers affected by avian flu in Pampanga
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is ready to distribute tomorrow the initial amount of R31 million worth of compensation to farmers affected by the bird flu outbreak in San Luis, Pampanga.
Those who will be compensated are farmers whose chicken, ducks and quails were culled as part of the effort to contain the spread of avian influenza virus in San Luis town.
DA Secretary Manny Piñol said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has given last Friday its go-signal for the downloading of R31-million calamity fund from DA's Central Office to its Field Office in Region 3.
“The amount will be the first in a series of releases to be made by government through the Agriculture Department to cover the losses of the farmers,” Piñol said.
An estimated 300,000 birds will be covered by the first tranche of payment.
The government will pay poultry farmers R80 per head of layer chicken, R70 for broiler chicken, R80 for duck, and R10 for quails.
Likewise, Piñol said DA’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is also preparing grants and loans through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) for farm workers who will be left jobless due to the closure of farms within the one-kilometer contained radius.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vowed to monitor the unauthorized movement of livestock particularly from Pampanga, Commodore Joel Garcia, PCG officer-in-charge, said.
Garcia ordered all PCG districts “to be on the look out of the unauthorized movement of livestock particularly from Pampanga and/or Luzon area to Visayas and Mindanao” to prevent the spread of the avian influenza or bird flu.
No chicken entry In Tarlac, the mayor of Concepcion has ordered a stop to all chicken deliveries to prevent any chance of the avian flu spreading in the town.
Mayor Andy Lacson said he has instructed all heads of local government offices to put up measures to quarantine this town from being infected with the avian flu now plaguing the neighboring province of Pampanga.
“It is my duty to protect our people. I have to use all the powers of my office to save my town from becoming another San Luis. By all means, the birds flu must be prevented from infecting our own local poultry industry,” said Lacson. (With reports from Betheena Kae Unite and Mar T. Supnad)