BY GLENDA TAYONA and RHENJIE MARIE CALANTAS
ILOILO – The town of Oton has been placed under a state of calamity due to African Swine Fever (ASF) for one year unless lifted earlier.
The Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Oton, upon the recommendation of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC), unanimously approved a resolution declaring a state of calamity. The ASF has spread to more barangays after the first cases were confirmed late last week at a hog farm.
In MDRRMC’s assessment citing the record of the Municipal Agriculture and Cooperative Office (MACO), at least 15 percent of the forecasted affected population are in need of emergency assistance, and more than 30 percent of livelihood in the agriculture and business sectors is already affected, part of the SB resolution read.
As of Oct. 20, almost 400 hogs have been depopulated within the one kilometer radius from the index case.
ASF HITS 9 OTON VILLAGES
As part of the contact tracing conducted by the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) and the local ASF task force of Oton, nine barangays within one-kilometer radius have positive cases of ASF.
These are Bita Norte, Bita Sur, Cabuluan Norte, Cabuluan Sur, Santa Monica, Abilay Norte, Tagbak Norte, Galang, and Buray.
Oton has a total of 37 barangays. The latest count showed 1,642 hog raisers and a hog population of 11,500 heads in the town.
Based on the data provided by Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr., 27 farmers are affected and 58 of the 228 samples tested are positive for ASF.
Following the declaration, Oton’s Vice Mayor Neil P. Olivares said the town will be using its P5.8-million calamity fund to contain ASF and assist affected hog raisers.
The declaration will also give way for the town to request immediate assistance from the provincial government of Iloilo, Department of Agriculture Region 6, Bureau of Animal Industry, National Meat Inspection Service, and other national government agencies concerned for their response, relief and rehabilitation to the ASF affected areas in the town.
“May ara kita subong pondo nga more than P5 million. Ma-meet ang MDRRMC kung paano i-prioritize ang dapat pagahatagan sang calamity fund,” said Olivares.
The SB and Oton mayor Sofronio Fusin Jr.’s initial plan is to provide financial assistance to the affected hog raisers in the area.
“Ako kag ang katapo sang Sanggunian will sit in with the MDRRMC para makahatag suhestiyon kung ano nga mga areas kag kanday sin-o ang dapat unahon naton nga hatagan sang pagtamod. At least mahagan-hagan man ang impact sang aton sini nga ASF,” Olivares said.
Meanwhile, Defensor will meet again today with the Provincial Civil Defense Cluster to discuss the possible assistance to be extended to affected hog raisers of Oton.
He noted that the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) has already identified assistance through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
“Ang sa province ginatan-aw pa naton kon ano ara sa budget naton. May ara man kita bulig halin sa mga national government agencies nga mahatag na siya kon matapos na ang inventory sang damage,” the governor added.
Meantime, the governor noted that the province will campaign to the farmers to participate in the insurance system of the government to avail themselves of the assistance if ever there are crisis.
A city, municipality, province, or region may be declared under a state of calamity when any of the following conditions brought about by natural and/or human-induced disasters are present:
* at least 15 percent of the forecasted affected population based on science-based projection are in need of emergency assistance,
* at least 30 percent of the means of livelihood on agricultural, business, and industrial sectors are affected,
* damage to critical and lifeline infrastructure/facilities such as major roads and bridges, power stations, potable water supply systems, and telecommunication facilities,
* widespread destruction of fishponds, crops, poultry and livestock, and other agricultural products,
* disruption of lifelines such as food supply chain, electricity, potable water system, other transport systems, communication system, access to health service, and other related systems that cannot be restored within one week, or in the case for highly-urbanized areas where restoration of the above lifelines cannot be done within 24 hours,
* when there is an extremely high incidence of a certain disease whether communicable or non-communicable within a community, in a specific period of time, specific health-related behavior. or other health related events clearly beyond normal expectancy, and
* significant degradation to environmental and natural resources based on the recommendations of government agencies./PN
