BOODLE FIGHT President Duterte is joined by Pampanga officials and some Cabinet members in a meal of chicken barbecue, fried “itik” (duck) and quail, “balut” (boiled duck eggs) and hardboiled eggs to dispel fears of consumers about the safety of poultry products amid the outbreak of bird flu in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija provinces. —JOAN BONDOC
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Saying the government had to protect the supply of food, President Duterte on Monday warned that criminal charges would be filed against companies found to have imported birds exposed to or sick with avian flu.
The President visited Pampanga province to assure the public that its poultry products were safe. He also thanked the provincial government for its role in containing the outbreak of avian flu in San Luis town that briefly crippled poultry trade in Central Luzon region.
“I came here just to eat chicken and eggs and ‘balut’ to assure the public that there’s no danger in eating these. The bird flu outbreak is over,” he said.
Fine, imprisonment
During a news conference that followed, he said he was thinking of imposing bigger fines or imprisonment for companies caught bringing in sick birds.
But he quickly qualified his statement, saying, “As long as there was no malice. If they were not aware that what they brought in [were infected, then prolonged imprisonment] would be too much. That would be cruel and unusual. That’s against the Constitution.”
Mr. Duterte became the chief salesman of poultry products, eating two balut, half of a fried quail, and a quarter leg of chicken barbecue to help producers get back on their feet.
Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol said damage from the outbreak and the resulting quarantine protocols imposed by the government was “beyond quantifiable” as prices of broilers (chicken grown for meat) dropped from P90 to P15 due to lack of information among consumers.
Poultry farms may restart in Barangay San Carlos, ground zero of the outbreak in San Luis, after four months.
But Mr. Duterte said, “I assure you, poultry products from Pampanga and Nueva Ecija [province] are safe for consumption.” He and Piñol led a boodle fight on a 50-meter long table at the Heroes Hall here.
Mr. Duterte ate with his bare hands as he shared meals with former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda, Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado, Pampanga and Nueva Ecija mayors, poultry growers, farmers and officials of several government agencies.
Food production
In his speech, Mr. Duterte said Pampanga played a big part in the country’s food production and thanked the province’s agriculture sector for the “sweat that you do for the country.”
“I commend the Department of Agriculture for its quick and decisive action. I am grateful to local officials in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija for their cooperation and appreciate the 300 or so soldiers who rapidly worked to cull the birds,” he said.
Piñol reported success in stopping the spread of the virus, which the Australian animal health laboratory confirmed to be the H5N6 strain that can transfer to humans. Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said no case of human transmission had been recorded so far.
Compensation
A total of 421,132 chickens, quails and ducks were killed in San Luis as well as 70,576 birds in San Isidro town, and 100,321 more in Jaen town, both in Nueva Ecija.
Mr. Duterte said he would ask Andrea Domingo, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. chair, for funds to compensate affected growers for the damage caused by the outbreak. The government pays P80 for every culled chicken and duck and P10 for quail.
Mr. Duterte handed a P20.7-million check to San Luis Mayor Venancio Macapagal as payment to growers who agreed to have their infected birds killed.
San Isidro grower, Manuel Ortiz Luis, was paid P5.516 million. Jaen quail raisers, Mary Grace Castro and Magdalena Nagum, were paid P209,000 and P149,870, respectively.
Five poultry raisers in San Luis each received a P5,000-grant and P20,000-loan while each of their five workers received an initial P5,000.
The government remains on surveillance for the early signs of bird flu, Mr. Duterte said.