The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) extended its support to the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) initiatives to rescue animals affected by the eruption of Taal Volcano through its newly launched Taal Livestock Care (TLC) Emergency Operations Center in Brgy. Marawouy, Lipa City, Batangas, last January 18.
The PCC, led by its Executive Director Dr. Arnel Del Barrio, has donated tons of silage and rice straws as feedstuffs for the rescued animals. It also lent its animal rescue mobile service to be utilized throughout the rescue operations.
These feedstuffs will be a good source of recuperation among the rescued animals since nearby forage areas were also devastated. Meanwhile, veterinarians and assisting volunteers were deployed to provide animal health services in the evacuation area.
This volcanic eruption, which started last January 12, caused severe damages and losses in the agricultural sector involving the fisheries, crops, and livestock.
On a positive response, the National Livestock Program, spearheaded by Asec. William Medrano, facilitated the convergence of support from other livestock agencies of DA such as the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), National Dairy Authority (NDA), Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), and Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
“We may not be able to totally solve the problem, but we have to caption the impact especially on the lives of our smallhold producers who are primarily affected by this calamity, thus, this activity aims to unify all efforts in different areas to achieve effective responses,” Asec. Medrano said.
As different agencies committed their support, Ms. Vilma Dimaculangan, Regional Coordinator for Livestock Program, emphasized as well a need for close coordination among DA agencies and other organizations. She cited the 14km-immediate response mechanism being conducted to ease out the devastation caused by Taal volcanic eruption.
The Provincial Veterinary Office of Batangas secured a well-coordinated system with regard to accepting donations and assistance for the Taal volcanic eruption to prevent harmful effects to people due to ash fall.
