A TOP official of the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Northern Mindanao said chicken supply in the region is sufficient, saying the public has “nothing to worry about” as the region is the country’s top three producer of chicken.
Carlene Collado, DA-Northern Mindanao regional director, said on Tuesday, August 15, that in terms of chicken supply, the region can supply its own demands.
"We are self-sufficient. Number 3 kita in the country sa chicken production, dili man ta dependent sa Luzon, naa pa gane instances na kita ang gapagawas ug poultry products in other areas outside of the region," Collado said.
He added, "We also have our own chicken growers so wala kitay problema sa supply, we can even supply them."
But quarantine officer Dr. Dale Llentic said there may be shortage of table eggs in the future but the region can always get eggs from other places.
"Bantayan island is also one og the major supplier sa table eggs sa region, so naa pa tay laing source, not only in Pampanga," Llentic said.
While chicken supply is enough, Misamis Oriental Agriculturist Dr. Benjamin Resma said they could not say the same in terms of the supply for duck eggs for “balut.”
He said about 450,000 duck eggs for the province are sourced from Pampang a and local producers can only supply 10 percent of demand.
"Dako gyud ang mawala nga supply kay dili naman makasulod dinhi sa ato, pero ingon ni Governor Bambi, in every calamity, there's an opportunity, so naa man tay livelihood project pud for table eggs production pero 10% ra ang ma supply ani nga balut. Mao ni nga problema na kinahanglan iaddress kay luoy ang mamaligyaay ug balut," he said.
"Dili man ni angay ikalipay pero at least pud ang mga farmers sa Misamis Oriental matagaan ug higayon na madako-dako ang ilang ginansya tungod ani," Resma added.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Northern Mindanao lawyer Fel Brillantes said they will support DA-Northern Mindanao in strengthening measures to prevent the virus from entering the region.
"As to the bird flu problem, we are coordinating with the DA and Department of Health and wait for (word regarding the) extent of the problem," Brillantes said.
"Our DTI-10 (Northern Mindanao) provincial offices are now closely coordinating with the local price coordinating councils to monitor possible increase in prices of chicken and other poultry products. But we need not to worry as prices and supply of basic goods in Northern Mindanao that are monitored by DTI remain stable," he added.