THE Quezon City government has posted a 30-percent drop in rabies cases in 2017 due to Mayor Herbert Bautista’s massive vaccination program that started in 2016.
According to the city’s veterinary department, just 13 rabies cases were recorded last year, compared to 23 in 2016.
Dr. Marilyn Traquena of the department’s anti-rabies program cited Bautista’s efforts to increase their budget from P4.2 million in 2017 to P4.7 million in 2018 to cover the costs of the vaccination program.
She said the city has already vaccinated 158,280 registered dogs and cats, adding they are targeting to vaccinate 200,000 dogs and cats in 2018.
“Cases of rabies have gone down due to our house-to-house campaign for anti-rabies vaccination, and that the mayor has allocated a bigger budget to address the spread of rabies,” she said.
Meanwhile, the 37-member Quezon City council has passed City Resolution 7086, adopting a local climate change action plan to be integrated to the comprehensive land use plan, comprehensive development plan and disaster risk reduction and management plan.
In addition, the council also passed Resolution No. 7099, adopting a disaster risk reduction and management plan aimed to strengthen the city’s resiliency in disaster response and management.
In another development, the city’s Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department, along with the Manila Water Co. Inc., went out of its way to teach proper waste disposal, waste segregation, and the need to declog sewers to public school students in Project 3 through a storytelling and puppet show program.
