COTABATO CITY -- While Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol has lifted the ban on poultry and poultry products from Luzon following the outbreak of avian flu in San Luis, Pampanga, the North Cotabato provincial council is eyeing to put up animal checkpoints on all entry points of the province.
Ironically, the agriculture secretary’s brother was the one who recommended to the provincial council the setting up of animal quarantine checkpoints in the province’s seven entry and exit points.
“This is aimed at preventing the possible entry of avian influenza virus to the province,” Boardmember Socrates Pinol told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) Wednesday. He made the statement on the day the agriculture secretary lifted the ban.
He added that his move was to ensure the poultry industry of North Cotabato will not be affected by the virus should it re-occur.
Geographically, North Cotabato has at least seven entry points through national highways.
In coordination with the Department of Agriculture provincial office, Pinol said animal quarantine should be established in the towns of Tulunan which borders with Datu Paglas in Maguindanao. This is the road linking Kidpawan City to Sultan Kudarat via Maguindanao.
Another is in the town of Makilala in North Cotabato and Bansalan in Davao del Sur, portion of the North Cotabato-Davao highway. Quarantine checkpoint is also recommended in the towns of Carmen in North Cotabato and Maramag in Bukidnon and in Banisilan town in North Cotabato and Wao in Lanao del Sur.
A checkpoint manned by veterinarians and police and military authorities should be established in the towns of Pigcawayan in North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao. This road network connects North Cotabato to Cotabato City and Maguindanao.
A road less travelled but normally used by traders transporting large cattle and other animals should have one checkpoint. It will be at the boundary of Midsayap in North Cotabato and Datu Piang in Maguindanao.
North Cotabato, according to Boardmember Pinol, is thousands of kilometers away from Pampanga but added that if there’s no animal quarantine inspection area there’s a possibility of contamination.
A report from DA bio-security experts showed that the Avian Influenza cases in San Luis, Pampanga and in San Isidro and Jaen towns in Nueva Ecija have been contained in a seven-kilometer radius made Sec. Pinol lift the ban.
In his Administrative Circular, the Da chief allowed the shipment of dressed chicken, fresh table eggs, cooked duck eggs (balut), day-old chicks, game fowls and others provided these are covered by veterinary certificates issued after tests are conducted by bio-security personnel.
Shipment of fowls, poultry and poultry products coming from inside the 7-kilometer radius of San Luis, Pampanga and the towns of Jaen and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija will not be allowed.
Pinol said all shipments must be covered by health certificates and quarantine clearances and Quarantine Stations in all airports and ports of the country are directed not to allow passage to poultry and poultry products without the necessary clearances.
The agriculture secretary said the lifting of the ban was made after he consulted with stakeholders of the poultry and egg industry.(PNA)
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Topic: NoCot to set up quarantine checkpoints vs avian flu (Read 192 times)