[OPINION] Rat-catching challenge: doing more harm than good
by Caryl Sumulong | May 24, 2024
In an effort to eradicate pests and address public health and safety concerns, Baguio City relaunches the rat-catching challenge at the public city market this year starting from May 20 to August 31, according to a Facebook post by the City Public Information Office (PIO) on May 17.
The first implemented challenge in 2020 recorded a whopping 1,766 rats caught within a month, as per PIO. For its reimplementation this year, the city offices offered the following cash prizes: 25,000 pesos for the section with the highest rats captured, 15,000 pesos for the second place, and 10,000 pesos for the third place. The city also offers 5,000 pesos for the individual who catches the most number of rats.
However, there are concerns about public health and sanitation, and appropriate use of fundings in this initiative. Since rats are considered pests, being exposed to them can cause harmful effects to human health. For instance, leptospirosis is an illness that comes from a bacteria that can be found in the pee of infected animals that may also contaminate water and land, according to the Department of Health (DOH). Its symptoms include fever, sore eyes, rashes, chills, and vomiting, that may even lead up to death.
Given these concerns about public health and sanitation, encouraging the public to capture rats themselves seems concerning. There may also be instances where others just capture rats from other places just to win the prizes, especially that there is a big amount of money involved. The 25,000 worth of cash prize is after all a big deal already. Given these implications, the rat-catching challenge is questionably doing more harm than good.
Hence, the local government unit (LGU), instead of launching a three-month challenge, must invest in feasible and effective long-term solutions that would lessen the presence of rats in the market. The LGU must assign proper personnel who are knowledgeable in monitoring and controlling the pests and in keeping the market sanitized and clean for a long time.
Moreover, they could opt for providing more open spaces, especially for the fish and meat sections which are the common hiding places for rats. Instead of risking the vendors to other health risks and making them compete for a prize money, the government shall allot the budget to providing the vendors and other stakeholders with better sanitation plans.
While I acknowledge that the public must work hand-in-hand with the government in solving these issues, it is still the responsibility of the higher-ups to come up with proper and appropriate long-term solutions. Turning over the obligation of this issue to the public says a lot about how they manage the services in the city.
If the LGU really prioritizes its constituents, the least thing that they could do for the market vendors is to provide them with a clean and safe environment where they can offer their goods to the consumers.
