The Advent of the Paravets

The livestock industry of a province provides a big chunk of income and ensures food security for the people. When the animals of a certain place are hit with a plaguing epidemic, it poses a big problem for that area's economy as well as the food supply. Although there may be big-time commercial growers, the ones that are hit the most and the hardest, and probably comprise the biggest percentage of the industry, are the small- to medium-scale farmers.

That is why the provincial government of Negros Occidental under Gov. Joseph Maranon gives much attention to its animal industry. There are many activities under the Bantay Kasapatan Program of the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian that Dr. Renante Decena, DVM heads, and among their most notable efforts is the installation of the para-veterinarians, or paravets, in almost every city and municipality of Negros Occidental, except Silay City.

The paravets are volunteer workers for the government, functioning as barangay health workers to enhance the delivery of basic services in their respective areas. In the province of Negros Occidental, there are cities that have a veterinarian and there are those whose municipal agriculturist is the one who handles the veterinary programs of their area. That is why there is a demand for people to implement the animal health programs all over the province. Indeed, there is a need for workers who could implement the government's activities, and the answer came through the paravets.

The paravets were organized in 7 years ago under the supervision of Dr. Decena in order to answer the needs of the livestock industry of the province. The provincial veterinarian recalls that in 1994, La Carlota City, northern Negros Occidental had a problem with disease control. When the epidemic worsened, the PVO learned that there were people who were willing to work and help the government prevent the spread of disease in their area. The ingenious doctor thought of setting an organized body of volunteers that are trained and recognized by the government. "The people became more productive because now they recognized the importance of participating in government projects. The paravets are official representatives of the provincial government and are issued ID cards under the PVO, signed by Gov. Maranon himself," Dr. Decena disclosed.

In 2001, the Office of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan passed SP Ordinance No. 034 deputizing and empowering the paravets in order to help "eliminate if not totally eradicate the outbreak of highly contagious and deadly (animal) diseases that results to the depletion of animals for work and for human consumption." The resolution was authored by board members Jesus Colmenares, Ike Barredo, and Corazon Diploma who were chairmen on agriculture, personnel, and laws respectively during this time.

Since then, the paravets became especially effective in controlling the outbreak of FMD in the Negros a few years back. But probably their biggest break so far had been in preventing the entry of foot and mouth disease in Negros Occidental a few years back inspite of serious threats of outbreaks in Iloilo and Manila in 2000 and 2002. With the help of the paravets, the entire province is one of the few in the country that's declared FMD-free. At present, there are more than 1,000 paravets actively implementing the different programs of the government in the different barangays of their cities or municipalities.

Negros Occidental is one of the first provinces, if not the first, in the country to establish a conveniently working paravet program. But it was not without controversy. Not too many people liked the idea of calling these noble volunteer workers as para-veterinarians, stressing that the designation of a veterinarian is only given to those who have acquired their degree. Dr. Decena, however, being a veterinarian himself, argued that they are not functioning like animal doctors but they are assisting the veterinarians in their works, thus the prefix "para." At the same time, he added that it is not about the designation but the paravets' contribution to the effective animal health management in the province. The legalities were eventually ironed out through a public hearing.

Despite the odds, the paravet program gained credence among local government executives who saw the potential of the paravets' work. Dr. Decena realized that it is important that every LGU's paravet program is working actively because "disease knows no political boundaries. If we want to keep the province disease-free, everyone should help regardless of political agenda."

The paravets are also instrumental in the massive vaccination program that the PVO constantly undertakes. Dr. Decena said that the provincial government is able to spearhead simultaneous immunizations in different barangays all over the province because of the paravets. That is why Negros Occidental is noted for its efforts to curb incidences of rabies and other diseases because the immune response of the animals all over the province occurs about the same time. "In vaccination, there should be a strategy to curb the outbreaks of disease on a massive scale. Holding immunizations in one barangay after another will not work. Vaccines are viruses and the titer should happen almost at once. But if there are no paravets, we couldn't get this big job done," the PVO head stressed. Aside from rabies, the PVO regularly holds immunization against hemorrhagic septisemia, hog cholera, and NCD for poultry.

The licensed veterinarians from the PVO headed by Dr. Decena are responsible for training the paravets. The PVO revealed that there are plans to establish a paravet training school and to affiliate the paravet program to a reputable technical college in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental called Negros State College of Agriculture (NESCA). This move is to make the paravet training program an academic degree or a short home study course where graduates will be issued certificates after completion. In the future, "we would like the paravet program to become a vocational degree that th

e people can use when they find employment. It would certify them to practice even on their own," Dr. Decena added. After completing the training, the paravets receive supplies from the PVO, such as a medicine bag, syringe, needles, and some medicines.

For many years now, paravets in different areas are responsible for implementing different animal health programs such as vaccination and assisting in provincial government-sponsored barangay clinics. During these mobile clinics, the paravets administer the vaccination, distribute the medicines available, handle the registration, and repack the medicines under the supervision of a veterinarian from the PVO. Dr. Ada Lemana commented that the paravets are a big help to them because the PVO personnel could not do everything, as their field workers are not sufficient. "We will not be able to serve all the farmers coming to the barangay clinics without the paravets," she said.

Some paravets have also undergone the swine artificial insemination training sponsored by the provincial government since last year and now they are the ones taking care of the AI program of their city or municipality. They handle the actual semen extraction from the boars in their custody and the insemination to the sows and gilts of different swine farms in their locality.

One of the biggest factors that the paravet program works is that the paravets are scattered all over the province and a big number of barangays are represented. So whenever there is a health emergency in a remote farm, a paravet can immediately go to the rescue without the farmer bringing his concern to authorities in the city. The geographical hindrance of these farmers in remote areas pose a big problem, as sometimes the animals do not get help until it is too late. On the other hand, these dedicated workers may be called upon during weekends and sometimes at night. Their activities are closely monitored by the PVO technical staff that goes around the province regularly. Cora Galon, Provincial Paravet Coordinator, said that the paravets are a big help especially to the LGUs because "they cover even the hinterlands that could not be visited by the livestock technicians of the province and the LGUs due to logistical problems. They handle the monitoring of the province's animal dispersal program and disease surveillance. Some of the paravets are also graduates of agriculture and animal science and so they are able to perform some of the tasks of the livestock technicians when the latter are not around."

The paravets are merely volunteer workers who are not salaried by the government. However, there are some local government units that do give a monthly transportation allowance, from P200 to as much as P1,000, to their registered paravets. But there are also LGUs that support their paravets' livelihood programs, such as the establishment of cooperatives for entrepreneurship efforts. The only consolation that these paravets have is the training that they get. The apply whatever valuable knowledge that they learn from their training and experience on the field to their personal farms, as most of them are livestock farmers themselves. At the same time, they get some free medicines and vitamins for their animals from the province as supplies permit. But more than that, it is their dedication to serve their fellowmen and to prevent the outbreak of disease in their area that keeps them going even without compensation. After all, they will be affected of any eventuality of an epidemic.

At first there were no set rules for the volunteers. Anyone who was committed to serve his fellowmen through veterinary services was welcome to join. However, recently Dr. Decena said that they set the standard among the paravets that trainees should at least be high school graduates.

After so many years of hard work, the paravets have already proven their worth not only in serving the government but their fellowmen as well. They live out what Winston Churchill once said about asking ourselves what we can do for our government, not just what the government can do for us. The paravets didn't just ask, they are already working on it. If only every Filipino will do the same, then probably we wouldn't have much against our government.