AS REPORTED by this paper recently, the Municipality of Carles’ steady march toward becoming rabies-free is a wake-up call for the entire province of Iloilo. With four more barangays added to its roster of rabies-free communities, Carles now has 12 certified barangays out of 33, the highest concentration of rabies-free zones in northern Iloilo. This is no small feat. It reflects discipline, coordination, and commitment among barangay leaders, health workers, and residents.
But more importantly, it offers a blueprint for what the rest of Iloilo Province can and should achieve.
Rabies remains one of the most preventable yet persistently deadly diseases in the Philippines. Every year, thousands of Ilonggos seek post-exposure treatment after animal bites, and public hospitals absorb the growing burden of vaccine demand. The Department of Health has long emphasized that the most effective way to stop rabies is not inside emergency rooms but out in the communities — through mass dog vaccination, responsible pet ownership, and functioning local rabies committees. Carles proves that when a town takes these requirements seriously, progress happens.
What Carles has accomplished should spark a province-wide push. The Iloilo provincial government should seriously consider adopting a synchronized, aggressively scaled-up rabies control program that brings all 42 municipalities and the component city into alignment. Uneven implementation — one town achieving 100% vaccination while its neighbor barely reaches half — weakens the entire system. Dogs do not understand political boundaries; rabies certainly does not.
A unified provincial strategy should include regular funding for anti-rabies vaccines, strengthened Barangay Rabies Control Committees (BRCCs), harmonized ordinances, and intensified school-based education.
The province can also consolidate the best practices already demonstrated by Carles: door-to-door vaccination, reliable surveillance, and active involvement of volunteers and pet owners.
If 12 barangays in one remote, island-rich municipality can hit the standards of the Sub-National Rabies Control Committee, there is no reason why the rest of Iloilo cannot. What is needed now is leadership — leadership that coordinates, incentivizes, and sets province-wide targets instead of leaving each town to fight the battle alone.
Carles has shown the way. The Province must now ensure that the rest of Iloilo follows. A rabies-free province is not an impossible dream; it is a step-by-step journey, and Carles has just taken a bold stride for all of us.
