Hot meat from Balamban seized

CEBU, Philippines – Cebu City Task Force Hot Meat yesterday sent a strong message to the smugglers of uninspected meat when it confiscated close to 100 kilos of butchered meat brought here from Balamban town.

At first, city veterinarian Alice Utlang received a tip from an informer that somebody from Toledo City is scheduled to transport uninspected meat products to Cebu City markets.

When the members of task force hot meat conducted a monitoring at the Cebu South Bus Terminal yesterday dawn, they noticed of sacks that were unloaded from a bus that came from Balamban.

Utlang said that when her personnel verified its contents, they learned that the sacks contained 40 kilos of pork, 30 kilos of goat meat, and four dressed chickens.

The owner of the meat products identified as Alicia Dumdum failed to present the required meat inspection certificate issued by a government meat inspector to legalize the transport of the meat.

Under the policy of the National Meat Inspection Commission, only those meat products coming from slaughterhouses that are accredited by the NMIC are allowed to be transported to other places.

It prompted Utlang to confiscate the hot meat in favor of the government. The 40 kilos of pork meat were reportedly donated to the Cebu City Zoo in barangay Kalunasan for the food of the little tiger. — Rene U. Borromeo/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)