Government anti-bird flu priorities ‘misplaced,’ says Candaba mayor

CANDABA, Pampanga — The mayor of this town, which is expected to host some 50,000 migratory birds anytime in the Candaba Swamp, decried as "misplaced" the priorities of the national government in coping with the bird flu threat.

Mayor Jerry Pelayo told The STAR that some 8,000 migratory birds have already found sanctuary in the swamp.

Despite this, he said the national government has ignored his pleas for assistance to avert bird flu contamination of the town’s P250-million poultry industry.

As early as four months ago, Pelayo said he had sought the help of the Department of Agriculture to construct a seven-kilometer cyclone wire fence around areas frequented by migratory birds as well as a feedmill and a mobile laboratory, all at a total cost of some P30 million.

"I was recently told that funds were not available, but I learned that the national government has already allocated P70 million to be used for an information caravan to promote awareness of the bird flu threat," he said.

The caravan will reportedly be held nationwide this November. In Luzon, the caravan will start in Pampanga and end up at the Rizal Park in Manila, he said.

While public awareness of the bird flu threat is important, Pelayo said his proposals for his town should have been given priority.

"My goodness, the migratory birds are already here by the thousands. We expect the wild bird population to even reach 50,000 anytime as the weather gets colder in neighboring countries," he said.

"I am fed up, I give up," he said, noting that his proposals which were adopted in the workshops of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) seem to have been merely shelved.

He said the location of the Candaba Swamp should make it a priority site in the campaign against bird flu contamination since it is surrounded by heavily populated towns hosting a significant poultry industry.

"I think we should put our feet on the ground and start acting more practically," said Pelayo, who has imposed a two-kilometer quarantine zone around the migratory birds’ sanctuary.

Without the cyclone wire fence, he said there is no assurance that local chickens and ducks would not stray into the swamp.

The feedmill proposed by Pelayo was designed for local fowls, particularly ducks whose raisers traditionally practice the so-called pagala system by transporting them to areas where feeds are available.

"Without a feedmill, how can we prevent duck raisers from resorting to the pagala system?" he said.

Ducks have been known to carry the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, which has infected 121 people in four Asian countries and killed 62, according to the World Health Organization.

The government has banned duck-raising within a three-kilometer radius of the migratory bird sanctuaries in 20 provinces, including the Candaba Swamp here.

Pelayo also lamented the failure of the agriculture department to provide a mobile laboratory which could help immediately determine the cause of death of any fowls, particularly the migratory birds, in the swamp.

"I was quite surprised by the announcement of the Department of Health that the entry of the bird flu virus is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when,’" he said.

"If we cannot prevent the entry of infected birds into the country, we can at least prevent the contamination of local fowls by adopting practical measures," he said.