Gov't urged to allocate fund to address bird flu threat

The Egg Council of the Philippines (ECP) urged Friday the national government to allocate funds to address the threat of bird flu and egg supply shortage.

ECP chairman and Agap-partylist Representative Nicanor Briones said the government must immediately release funds to address the spread of bird flu.

"Ang una nating gawin pondohan ng ating pamahalaan huwag nilang gawin 'yung ginawa sa African Swine Fever (ASF). Gusto nilang matigil eh hindi naman naglabas ng pondo para mabayaran 'yung tinatamaan ng ASF," Briones said in an interview with GMA's Balitanghali.

(The government must allocate funds first and should not repeat what happened when there was ASF.  They want to stop the spread of ASF, but they did not release funds to pay the affected hog raisers.)

"Walang nagdedeklara kumalat nang kumalat natakot ang maraming magbababoy hindi nagdagdag, hindi nagrepopulate kaya patuloy tayong nawalan ng baboy. Eh huwag nilang gawin sa bird flu, ngayon pa lang pondohan na nila at bayaran ng P150 kada ulo ng manok 'yung tatamaan," he added.

(When the ASF spread, producers got scared and did not repopulate which led to the shortage of hogs. They must not do that now amid bird flu, they must provide funds and give P150 per chicken affected by the bird flu.)

He said they requested the government to pay those affected by bird flu in order for them to voluntarily surrender, conduct tests, and avoid the spread of bird flu.

"Ang ating request kung pwede magbayad ng P150 kada manok na tatamaan ng bird flu para kusa silang magsurrender, kusa sila magpatest at nang hindi kumalat," he said.

(Our request is for them to pay poultry raisers P150 per chicken affected by the bird flu for them to surrender, voluntarily conduct tests, and prevent spread of the disease.)

Meanwhile, Briones said the country is also experiencing egg supply shortage due to the losses experienced from May 2021 to June 2022.

"Ngayon mayroon tayong kakulangan dahil sa naranasanang kalugihan mula May 2021 hanggang June 2022, 14 months. First time sa history ng aming pag-iitlugan ay nalugi nang napakalaki ang ating mag-iitlog kaya marami ang tumigil, binenta na 'yung farm, nagbawas kaya ngayon ay mayroon tayong kakulangan kaya mabilis na tumataas ang presyo [ng itlog]," he said.

(Now we have a shortage due to the losses experienced from May 2021 to June 2022, 14 months. For the first time in the history of producing eggs, we lost so much that some have stopped selling, others sold their farms, so now we have a shortage that resulted to increase in the price of eggs.

He earlier said the price of eggs is expected to hit P10 up to P15 per piece amid supply shortage and threat of bird flu.

He said that the threat of bird flu is also the concern of egg producers.

In March, the Department of Agriculture temporarily suspended the transportation of both poultry and non-poultry live birds from mainland Luzon to the rest of the country in light of the bird flu outbreak in Bulacan and Pampanga.

The agency also issued a memorandum circular regulating the movement of ducks, quails, chickens, and other poultry commodities in affected areas, particularly those coming from within the one-kilometer quarantine area.—AOL, GMA News