To prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019, Tublay, Benguet has secured an authorization from the provincial government for the temporary ban on the trading of chicken dung in the municipality.
The Tublay municipal council through a resolution has recently requested Benguet Gov. Melchor Diclas to temporarily ban the entry of chicken dung to the municipality due to the Covid-19 and the bird flu scare.
The Tublay municipal government has started to implement the ban but it was lifted after a few days following an opinion from the governor.
Diclas has cited as reason Memorandum Circular 07-2020 earlier issued by the Department of Agriculture, which ensures unhampered movement of all food and production items, including farm inputs.
He said chicken dung is considered a farm input in the province thus its movement should not be hampered.
He added that the Bureau of Animal Industry has assured strict prohibition of movement of any live poultry and poultry by-products including culled layers or breeders and chicken dung coming from Nueva Ecija.
But the Tublay municipal government stood firm in its argument, which was later supported by the provincial government.
“The banning of the transportation of chicken dung would be an appropriate act which may prevent the spread of the pandemic since the source of the chicken dung may be the areas infected by coronavirus disease 2019, including bird flu,” the Tublay council resolution reads.
In response, Diclas said Tublay has the regulatory power to stop chicken dung trading in their town, “as long as they will not close the national road from other chicken dung traders who bring their products to nearby towns and provinces.”
Mayor Armand Lauro said the order that would cover nine chicken dung traders will be implemented by April 14.
“We will talk to the traders for them to sell their remaining stocks and not to receive new orders,” Lauro said.
The mayor added the traders were also not able to process their business permits due to the enhanced community quarantine.
He said there would be no staging of chicken dung within the town but they would only allow the passage of traders going to other areas. – Ofelia C. Empian
