CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga– President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday committed to provide much needed help for the recovery of poultry raisers, especially those who were affected by the recent avian influenza outbreak in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija.
“To help the industry recover, the government, through the Department of Agriculture, will assist the affected poultry raisers in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija to defray their losses through interventions such as loans and capacity building trainings,” the President said during his visit at the Heroes Hall.
To give the poultry industry a big boost, the Chief Executive assures the public that the poultry products from Pampanga and Nueva Ecija are safe for consumption and that the government is undertaking efforts to stamp out the outbreak and minimize its impact to the country.
Among these efforts is the culling of affected fowls to avoid further spread of the virus, which was completed on August 24.
“We are also geared towards strengthening awareness drives to the public and the poultry raisers nationwide on avian influenza and finding ways to mitigate such virus to avoid speculation and confusion,” he stressed.
In terms of financial aid to affected poultry raisers, Duterte also vowed to seek additional funds to augment the current aid given by the government.
“I will ask PAGCOR if they can augment financially. Just give me a few more weeks. I will raise money to add a little bit to the amounts that the poultry raisers already received,” he promised.
As he stressed the government’s duty to safeguard the nation against spread of avian flu, he also called on the public to do their part to successfully eradicate this outbreak.
“We ask the full cooperation and assistance not only of the whole poultry industry but also the general public to make sure that disease outbreaks such as these are reported to authorities on the onset of its occurrence,” the President urged.
In closing, he reminded everyone of our primary goal to put the industry back into the path of high growth and progress so that they can continue to contribute to the nation’s food security towards economic growth. (CLJD/MJLS-PIA 3) Marie Joy L. Simpao