P7.4 million worth of seized imported meat buried

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City’s Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries has already buried the P7.4 million-worth of confiscated imported meat.

The city’s Public Information Office reported that the confiscated meat had now been buried safely in the backyard of the DVMF’s office at the North Reclamation Area.

Although the meat had already been buried, investigation continues as to who was the supplier of the meat products as the restaurant owner refused to name their supplier.

Based on the report from the Department of Agriculture, a total of 1,705 kilograms of frozen meat products consisting of duck, goose, black chicken and frozen pork were seized from Luys Classic Teahouse in Cebu City last June 27, 2023 following a joint operation of the Department of Agriculture Inspectorate and Enforcement (DA-IE) and the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) and the city’s DVMF.

The Chinese restaurant failed to present a certificate of meat importation (COMI).

The DA pledged to be relentless in taking legal action against violators under Republic Act No. 10611 or Food Safety Act of 2013, and Republic Act No. 10845, also known as the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.

To safeguard the agricultural industry from economic sabotage and improve the livelihood and well-being of farmers and fisherfolk, DA-IE, headed by Assistant Secretary James Layug, will continue to lead initiatives to protect the agriculture sector.

The city’s DVMF headed by Dr. Jessica Maribojoc, likewise, is also bent on continuing to do their jobs well for the welfare and safety of the Cebuanos and the rest.

Maribojoc said they were the ones who issued the confiscation certificate and blotter from the police together with the DA on the recent incident.

DVMF also found out from the Bureau of Quarantine through the custom’s intelligence in the region where they found out that it did go through animal quarantine.

Without all the required certificates, such meat should not also be displayed in either supermarkets or public markets and even restaurants.

“Una, wala siyay certificate of meat importation, ikaduha is bawal jud siya na i-display sa mga merkado or sa mga super markets or any mga restaurants na dili dapat mo accept ana,” reminded Maribojoc to the public. —with CNU Intern Kristin de Dios/GMR