THE Department of Agriculture assures the public that there would be more than enough supply of poultry products dispelling rumors of the alleged recurrence of cases of avian influenza (AI) or bird flu in the country today.
Agriculture secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel Jr. said there is even an overproduction of eggs now.
“Ang eggs naman natin ngayon, medyo overproduction tayo ng eggs. I think there’s ample supply and Batangas is a very good source for the supply. So, I don’t think there’s an issue,” he said.
Batangas is better known as the egg capital of the Philippines. Former president Rodrigo Duterte has approved a law declaring San Jose town in Batangas as the country’s “egg basket,” on April 17, 2022.
Republic Act No. 11707 recognizes the local and national “economic significance” of San Jose’s egg industry. The town is producing an estimated average of 705 metric tons of eggs daily. It also has some 342 registered independent poultry farms as of June 2021.
The Batangas Egg Producers Association (BAEPA) last year said their province alone produces an estimated 30 million eggs everyday, led by San Jose town.
Earlier this week, there were reports of incidence of bird flu in the province of Tarlac, but as of this writing, Laurel said that the the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) has not received any official report from the local government of Tarlac of such an incident.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Constante Palabrica reported that BAI has already received blood samples from three unidentified farms in Tarlac.
“…we have a modern AI laboratory in BAI… Once they come out with the sasabihin nila (they will say) AI negative, don’t doubt it. When they say AI positive, don’t doubt,” he said citing a “reliable” facility for AI confirmatory assessment.
The demand on poultry products relatively increased with the reported cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) in several town of the region. The DA reported cases of ASF in the town of Lobo, and the cities of Batangas and Lipa.| – BNN
