1,766 rats eliminated in Pied Piper contest at Baguio Market during quarantine

QUIET TIME. Baguio residents have designated market days due to the long quarantine, so only a quarter of the Baguio Market stalls have been open. PHOTO BY EV ESPIRITU

BAGUIO CITY –– A Pied Piper-like contest aimed at sanitizing the Baguio City Public Market during the quarantine period has eliminated 1,766 rats.

The “Rat-Catching Challenge” pitted 30 sections of the market in a month-long contest that ended on Thursday (April 30), for cash prizes put up by Mayor Benjamin Magalong.

“The results were computed based on the ratio of the catch and the number of stalls operating during the enhanced community quarantine period,” according to the city public information office.

Ten stalls that sell lechon (roast pig) caught 79 rodents generating a catch ration of 7.9 that entitles their vendors to the P20,000 top prize, the PIO said.

The biggest haul of rats was the 536 rodents captured by 84 stalls at the extension of the fish market stalls, giving it the fourth highest rank with a catch ratio of 6.38.

Vendors have been encouraged to continue trapping the pests by the City Veterinarian and Agriculture Office.

Graph showing the rate of rat elimination at the Baguio City Public Market during the quarantine , for break, 1,766 rats caught in Pied Piper contest To clean Baguio Market during lockdown

Market patronage has been restricted to only one member of Baguio’s over 350,000 residents for designated days each week due to the lockdown that was meant to stop the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading.

Before the quarantine was imposed, the Baguio government had been reviewing proposals to replace the current market with interconnected market buildings, as part of a Baguio redevelopment initiative.

LZB