No, it was no prank; it was deliberate sabotage

It just started with a text message last Saturday. "Avoid eating chicken, Negros Occidental is positive for bird flu. Please send to your loved ones. This is not a joke, a migratory bird in Escalante (City) was tested bird flu positive."

That was Saturday. By Sunday, it had become a full-blown scare story that affected the poultry industry in Bacolod City, and later, in the entire province. Much later, to our discomfiture, we discovered that it had also reached the national capital.

One may suspect that the originator of the message might have been a prankster. But now that that particular rumor has done so much damage, there is suspicion that there is more to it than meets the eye.

Provincial and local officials of Negros Occidental quickly reacted to the news. But apparently, gullible recipients may have passed on the message to others. By Sunday, it was the raging rumor all over Bacolod.

Dr. Renante Decena, provincial veterinarian, said the spread of the text message warning the public against eating chicken from Negros has already caused concern even in other parts of the country.

Later, Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon issued an appeal to Negrenses to deny the report and also give assurances that there was no such thing as a positive finding of bird flu among Negros’ poultry stock.

Escalante Mayor Santiago Barcelona stressed that no migratory bird in his city had tested positive for bird flu.

Marañon appealed to the public to avoid spreading unverified text messages that could cause undue panic. Besides, the text message has already hurt the province’s poultry industry.

Dr. Luisa Efren, provincial health officer, also weighed in with the observation that they had not been alerted of any positive bird flu case.

Dr. Edileon Isidto, Bacolod City health officer, said bird flu could be called by its common term — aratay. And he pointed out that there was no need to boycott chicken or other poultry products and those can still be eaten provided they are properly cooked.

But he was immediately corrected by Decena who said aratay is a totally different disease from bird flu.

The Bacolod veterinary office has also said that it has been keeping a close watch on migratory birds spotted in ricefields around the city. Herons (tulabong) have been spotted in Barangays Sum-ag, Cabug and Granada, according to Dr. Adelo Daroy. So far, there has been no reported outbreak of avian flu, he added.

Staggering losses

But official pronouncements failed to stem the damage to the poultry industry. In Bacolod, poultry vendors complained of a sales drop of as much as 50 percent. And even inasal sellers (that’s the favorite of Negrenses) claimed the people have shied away from patronizing chicken inasal.

Market vendors as well as groceries in the city’s malls have also given the same reports.

This, despite the assurance by Luningning Villa, Department of Health spokeswoman, that cooked chicken cannot carry the bird flu virus.

Members of the Poultry Association of Broiler Integrators in Negros Occidental met and appealed to texters to stop circulating the malicious and unfounded text messages that have caused a drastic drop in sales.

Dr. Antonio Utzurrum, Negros manager of Bounty Agro Ventures Inc., said sales plummeted on Tuesday to 40 percent from the 20 to 25 percent drop the previous day.

Vitarich reportedly suffered a sales drop of some P200,000 on Monday, dropping further to about P300,000 the next day.

Blame the text message

The bugging question is how did that scary message circulate? Was it only due to gullible recipients? Or was there a deliberate and concerted move by an organized group to spread the word around?

The text message circulated too fast and went around the country so rapidly that the only conclusion one can make is that there was a deliberate attempt to destroy the P10-billion poultry and gamefowl industry of the province. And for whose gain?

Gamefowls have not been affected by the scare. So claims former La Carlota City mayor Juancho Aguirre. So far, fighting cock breeders have not complained that their sales have been hit.

On Tuesday night and yesterday morning, a lot of local poultry fanciers, however, seemed unfazed by the report. Unfortunately, most of them belong to the upper classes, the professionals and the educated. But the average tao believed the unfounded report and shied away from poultry.

Yet, somehow, the bird flu scare seemed to be dying down as of yesterday. But there are still too many gullible people who swallow such reports hook, line and sinker.

That reminds me of a psychological warfare exercise during Martial Law. A rumor was planted in Metro Manila. One week later, although there were no cellphones then, the rumor, just through phone calls, had already reached Davao City with a lot of variations and versions. In short, in the Philippines, the cellphone can prove devastating.

That’s why there is a need to regulate text messages, as proposed by Sen. Richard Gordon. When subjected to EVAT, text messages could be reduced and it could be easier to trace the authors of scary text messages.

The current experience with the bird flu scare in Negros Occidental should prod authorities to adopt remedial measures so that originators and senders of text messages could be easily pinpointed.

And, yes, the government should be able to mobilize mass media to immediately inform the public on the true state of affairs. Speedy reaction is what is required to foil any attempts to create havoc in the economy or political system.

Boracay murders

Four officials of the German embassy were reported to have visited the Region 6 police last Monday afternoon to confer with police officers on the killing of three foreigners and a Filipina maid in Boracay last year.

The four officials were reported to be Helmut Rester, Reinhard Weber, Helbert Nilson, of the German Federal Police, and Uwe Fritz Berndt, of Legal Affairs.

The subject of their talk was reportedly the case of Uwe Friezel, a respondent in a multiple murder case who managed to leave the Philippines several months ago despite a hold departure order against him by the immigration bureau and a standing warrant for his arrest.

Superintendent Jorge Corpuz, CIDG-Region 6 director, told Iloilo mediamen that "Friezel is now in Germany. He was seen there by some of his friends."

The four German officials reportedly went over the evidence and talked to prosecutors and witnesses. Friezel is one of the five suspects charged in the May 3, 2004 killings in Dolce Vita hotel in Sitio Bulabog, Balabag, Boracay.

The victims were German Anton Austenhauser, Swiss-born Hong Kong art gallery owner Manfred Schoni, architect John James Cowperthwaite of Hong Kong and their Filipina maid, Erma Sarmiento.

Friezel was charged along with construction worker Chito Catalogo for the murders, together with several John Does. The missing German national reportedly once worked as a maintenance worker at Austenhauser’s villa. Catalogo, on the other hand, was one of the laborers working in a construction project adjacent to the villa.

Well, the only thing we can hope for is that the German authorities may finally decide to prosecute Friezel in Germany for the crime he stands accused of in the Philippines.