Piñol reopens chicken trade route to Visayas, Mindanao

Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pino. EDWIN BACASMAS/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The poultry industry in Pampanga province may be on the first stages of recovery from the bird flu outbreak after Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol on Tuesday lifted a ban on the shipment of poultry and by-products from Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao.

The culling of 200,000 egg-laying chickens, quails and ducks exposed to a strain of bird flu was completed in San Luis town on Monday.

The prohibition to sell in the Visayas and Mindanao was contained in an Aug. 14 memorandum that limited businesses to Luzon-to-Luzon trading only.

Poultry farmers and traders said they were awaiting a copy of Piñol’s new memorandum reopening the trade in balut (duck eggs with embryo), salted eggs and broilers (chickens grown for meat).

But these products must come from farms operating outside the 7-kilometer control areas, ringing a 1-km quarantine zone set up in Barangay San Carlos and Sta. Rita in San Luis on Aug. 11.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Piñol assured the public that poultry and other poultry products outside the 7-km controlled zones of Pampanga and Nueva Ecija were safe to eat.

But all shipments must carry certifications and seals from quarantine officers, and balut eggs must be cooked before any movement.

“This order is based on the recommendation of our bio-security team and within the conformity of the National Meat Inspection Service,” Piñol said.

Although the order was based on an objective assessment by experts, Piñol admitted that there was also an “emotional consideration,” given the “pleadings of the farmers” to lift the ban because of the losses they had to incur that were increasing everyday.

Poultry owner Jonathan Sumbillo of Minalin town said he and other traders faced two problems: an oversupply of eggs that could bring prices down; and the public scare that brought down demand for chicken products.

Minalin, which is 16 km from San Luis, is regarded as the egg basket of Central Luzon, producing between 800,000 and 1 million eggs each day.

“It felt like fish bone was pulled out from my throat,” said Dante Magpayo, who grows broilers in Barangay Lourdes, also in Minalin.

“At least now we have a chance to recover from losses,” said Benedicta Baylon, who referred to the 1 million unsold eggs worth P7 million.

In Candaba town, Mayor Danilo Baylon gave 5,000 fresh chickens to residents in four villages. These came from his poultry farms. “These are healthy chickens and I cannot feed them any longer. I’d rather give them away now than put them on storage that costs so much,” he said.

According to United Broiler Retailers Association president Bong Inciong, farm gate prices for chickens already hit P15 per kilo to as low as P10 per kilo from the usual farm gate price of P80 to P90.

Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura chair Rosendo So said that if the secretary talked to the industry first, the nationwide ban would not have been necessary.

So explained that the bird flu outbreaks in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija were isolated cases that had been overblown.

Meanwhile, Piñol said compensation for affected farmers are set to be released once all necessary documentation have been submitted. Additional budget of P100 million from the Office of the President was also approved by President Duterte, and is already with the Department of Budget and Management. —With reports from Tonette Orejas, Anselmo Roque, Armand Galang, and Karl R. Ocampo