Local Health Board presided over by Mayor Dalipe.
Initially, the Rat for Rice Program will only be implemented in pilot barangays with most number of leptospirosis cases during the recent flooding like Tumaga, Guiwan, Tetuan, Tugbungan, Pasonanca and Ayala.
Under the proposed guidelines patterned after Quezon City and Marikina City, the program is implemented only during rainy season within a period of three days only, otherwise it will open to people breeding rats.
The program is exclusive only for residents of Zamboanga City; senior citizens and children are not allowed to submit the rats to the barangay; the rats must be caught using the mouse trap of the glue board; caught rats must be brought or submitted to the barangay for counting, verification and immediate disposal at the sanitary land fill in Salaan or a designated area within the barangay.
The City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) will download the rice to the participating barangays, which, in turn, will release the rice to the participating residents.
To recall, Mayor Dalipe himself broached the Rat for Rice Program last February when the city’s leptospirosis cases shot up after the series of flooding.
It was reported that from the period Oct. 27 to Nov. 16, the city of Zamboanga had registered 97 leptospirosis patients, 12 of them with comorbidities died.
Dalipe said to mitigate if not eradicate leptospirosis is to address the root cause of the disease, which is the rat. Hence, he suggested the city government will give 1 kilo of rice for every rat killed. The more rats killed, the more rice anyone can get.
On record, 20 barangays have reported leptospirosis cases, namely; Tumaga 28, Pasonanca 14, Tetuan and Tugbunga with 10 cases each, Guiwan 9, Ayala 5, Sta. Maria and Putik with 4 cases each, San Jose Gusu 2, and 1 case each in Cabaluay, Talisayan, Culianan, Boalan, Curuan, Tulungatung, Manicahan, Zambowood, Cabatangan, Baliwasan and San Roque. (Vic Larato, photo courtesy by Kathy Wee Sit)
(Source: City Government of Zamboanga Facebook page)