Hinimok ni House Ways and Means Chair at Albay 2nd District Representative Joey Sarte Salceda ang Department of Agriculture (DA) na maghanda ng mga contingencies hinggil sa “rapidly evolving” avian influenza na nakaka apekto sa mga mammals at migratory birds sa South America.
Babala naman ni Salceda na siyang Vice Chairman ng House Committee on Agriculture and Food, na may posibilidad ang Batangas at Cebu ang magiging hotspots ng virus lalo at kilala ang mga nasabing lugar na malaking producer ng poultry products sa bansa.
“There are high risk areas, where both wildlife avian migration and poultry raising are heavily concentrated. The hotspots will really be Batangas and Cebu since both are heavy on avian migration and heavy on poultry raising number 1 and number 3 for top producing provinces,” babala ni Salceda.
Ang World Health Organization ay nagbabala laban sa “evolving” H5N1 avian influenza virus na posibleng maging largest outbreak ng avian influenza sa mundo.
“The nature of these things is that they come. It will come to the Philippines. No doubt,” pahayag ni Rep. Salceda.
Ayon kay Salceda ang Vietnam, Egypt at China ay mayruon ng mga hakbang na ginawa gaya ng malawakang poultry vaccination programs.
Dagdag pa ng economist solon,“In any case, we need contingencies. Inflation momentum has definitely halted. But an avian flu pandemic will threaten our food supply, especially chicken and eggs, both cheap sources of protein.”
Iminungkahi din ni Salceda na bilang tugon sa developing global situwation, dapat lamang na mag constitue ang Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr., ng Inter-Agency Task Force for animal disease.
Iminungkahi din ng mambabatas na ang Department of Agriculture ay maghanda ng mga mitigation measures gaya ng agricultural insurance para sa mga poultry farms, low-interest loans para sa biosafety investments sa pamamagitan ng Agricultural Credit Policy Council, at disease surveillance mechanisms para sa mga magsasaka.
“I don’t think it’s a question of if. It’s a matter of when. Readiness never hurts. Anyway, Congress is ready to help, and if need be, it should also be discussed in the budget” pahayag ni Salceda.
