BONTOC, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE. Mountain Province took the first shots in the continuing Bantay ASF sa Barangay Training on Specimen Collection for Barangay Biosecurity Officers (BBO) for 2022 in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). Jumping off from its initial implementation of the training program in the municipalities of Paracelis and Bauko last year, the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) of Mountain Province expanded the training early this year to the municipalities of Bontoc and Sabangan on February 16 and 24, 2022 respectively. The municipality of Sagada followed on March 10, 2022 while participants from the municipalities of Bauko and Tadian completed the training on March 15, 2022.
Bontoc sent eleven BBO to the activity which were added to another eleven coming from Sabangan composing this year’s first batch of graduates for this training. Coming in next is the training in Sagada which produced 15 graduates, and another batch held in Tadian with 17 BBO from Tadian and six from Bauko finishing the course. As pilot municipalities, there were 19 BBO from Paracelis and another 19 BBO from Bauko who underwent the said training on April 22, 2021 and June 18, 2021 respectively. Through these trainings, there are now 95 BBO trained in Mountain Province to assist the PVO and their respective municipal local government units on animal biosecurity concerns at the barangay level.
The BBOs are volunteer animal health workers based in their respective barangays and are under the supervision of the PVO. Their tasks include assisting the PVO and the Municipal Agriculture Office in the monitoring and surveillance of animal diseases. This program is one of the offshoots of the Philippine experience on the African Swine Fever (ASF) and is implemented as one of the measures to control and prevent the further spread of ASF through the wider Bantay ASF sa Barangay (BABay ASF) program.
This training is mainly implemented in CAR through the Agricultural Training Institute-Regional Training Center-CAR (ATI-RTC-CAR) in partnership with the DA-Reginal Field Office-CAR (DA-RFO-CAR), Provincial and City Veterinary Offices, and Municipal Agriculture Offices in the region. Primarily the BBO, through this training, are being capacitated to enhance their skills in collecting specimens for laboratory testing. This include proper preparation and handling of materials and tools, restraining of animals, collection, handling, packaging, and transport of specimens.
During the training, resource persons emphasized that mastery in collecting blood for laboratory tests takes time and needs more practice. Hence, it should be done under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian from the MAO or PVO. Aside from specimen collection, participants also did drills in conducting farm biosecurity assessment. Here, they were taught how to be very observant, objective and creative in extracting honest answers from their fellow farmers. Moreover, BBO were also instructed to be vigilant and strict in the surveillance of animal diseases and in monitoring quarantine measures. Thus, they have to be in constant coordination with the MAO and the PVO. Finally, BBOs will be invited for more related trainings and also during livestock-related activities of the MAO and the PVO at their barangay to further enhance their knowledge and skills.
(With reports from Maribeth M. Ladu-an and Lorna W. Sawac)
