Duterte: Pampanga poultry products are safe to eat

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, August 28, assured the public that poultry products from Pampanga are safe to eat.

The President spoke before the poultry stakeholders from Pampanga and Nueva Ecija, government officials and personnel involved in the quarantine and recent culling operations.

It could be recalled that to contain the problem of the avian flu outbreak in San Luis, Pampanga and San Isidro and Jaen in Nueva Ecija, the Bureau of Animal Industry's Avian Influenza Task Force quarantined the areas and killed all fowls within the one-kilometer radius of the farms affected.

A total of 667,184 chicken, ducks and quails were culled.

The President led officials and stakeholders in eating poultry products from Pampanga.

Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol, and Representative Aurelio Gonzales, Jr. were among the officials that joined the President.

The President said that to prevent further incidents of bird flu outbreaks in the country, officials and poultry raisers should remain vigilant to prevent further incidents.

The President said that it is possible to implement a bigger monetary punishment for businessmen who unscrupulously bring in poultry products that are infected by bird flu.

The bird flu outbreaks in the agricultural town of San Luis in Pampanga and in the towns of Jaen and San Isidro in neighboring Nueva Ecija have been successfully contained.

Piñol said that some 620,000 fowls are set to be culled in the said areas.