MINDANAO DAILY TRUTH | JUSTICE | PROGRESS
Volume IX, No. 394
www.mindanaodailynews.com
Fri-Sat, February 12-13, 2021
P15.00
No politicking in time of COVID vaccine rollout -Andanar By SUSAN G. DE LEON
PRESIDENTIAL Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar on Wednesday called for bayanihan and to do away with politicking as the government is set to implement its national vaccine rollout this month. “For now, let’s get down to work. All hands on deck
for our vaccination program to be able for our Filipino population to prevent the disease,” Andanar said in a radio interview, stressing that this is not the time to paint political colors on crisis responses. The PCOO chief explained that the administration is using the all-
hands-on-deck approach in preparation for the vaccine rollout, which will start this year, with the initial 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the COVAX facility set to arrive in the country this month. “If we have a healthy population, we will have an opportunity to make our economy healthy also. If our economy is healthy,
then we can go back to the commitment of President Rodrigo Duterte of providing a comfortable life for every Filipino,” he added. The gove r nme nt is expecting the arrival of the first wave of PfizerBioNTech and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility around mid-February.
Importing more meat products will hurt hog, poultry sectors M PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar (PIA NCR file)
Registration starts for Covid-19 vaccination in Davao By PREXX MARNIE KATE TROZO
DAVAO CITY – The city government here is targeting herd immunity among Dabawenyos by commencing the registration for those who want to avail of the coronavirus disease 2018 (Covid-19) vaccination for free. Around 1.2 million individuals are targeted to be vaccinated under Davao City’s Covid-19 vaccination program. Dr. Josephine Villafuerte, Davao City’s Covid-19 Vaccination Program head, urged Dabawenyos to sign up for a slot at their respective health districts ahead of the rollout of the local vaccination process. “We are doing everything safe and healthy. We encourage everyone to register, provide their data to their nearest health center, barangay health worker, or barangay nutrition scholars so that their names will be included in the master list,” she said in a radio interview Thursday. See STARTS, page 13
By H. MARCOS C. MORDENO, MindaNews
ALAYBALAY CITY – The plan of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to import more meat products will “push the agricultural industry, especially the hog and poultry raising sectors, to its eventual death,” House Deputy Minority leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said in a statement Tuesday. Citing the Philippine Statistics Authority, Zarate said the country has enough pork and chicken supplies, making it unnecessary to
import these items. “As it is, data shows that the local production of pork and chicken is enough for its demand in the Philippines.
According to the PSA, the per capita consumption of pork and chicken in 2020 is 15 kilos and 13.7 kilos, respectively. This translates to an estimated consumption of 1.5 million metric tons and 1,479.6 thousand metric tons. Meanwhile, local production of pork and chicken in 2020 is 2,142.65 thousand metric tons and 1,809.85 thousand metric tons, respectively,” he said. “Now where does the DA get its data that there is a need to import? Is it saying that the PSA data is wrong?” he said.
Last month, Agriculture Secretary William Dar gave the go-signal to increase the country’s pork imports at lower tariffs with the reported shortfall in local supply attributed to the African Swine Fever. Dar said the DA will triple the annual minimum access volume (MAV) of 54,000 metric tons (MT) to 150,000 MT, a move seen to pull down prices in the markets. But in a news item posted on DA’s website Thursday, House Deputy Minority leader the secretary “expressed and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos See IMPORTING, page 15
Isagani Zarate
DA-10 implements IEC to act on 4 ASF-affected brgys CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY-To manage and control the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) disease that is now affecting four barangays in the region, the Department of Agriculture (DA)10 observes the ‘isolate, eliminate and compensate’ (IEC) practice to help hog raisers. The four barangays affected by the viral disease
Local fishermen catch a 12-kilogram amberjack in the waters off Mabua village in Surigao City on Friday morning, February 12, 2020. mindanews photo by roel n. catoto
See VACCINE, page 15
include Barangay Jampason, Initao, Misamis Oriental; Barangay Pagawan, Manticao, Misamis Oriental; Barangay Mambuaya and San Simon, Cagayan de Oro. Serum specimens submitted by Misamis Oriental Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) and Cagayan de Oro City Veterinary Office (CVO) were subjected to See IEC, page 13