8 collared for operating illegal slaughter houses

A composite team from the Caloocan City government and the National Meat Inspection Commission (NMIC) apprehended eight persons and seized hundreds of kilos of freshly slaughtered pigs during raids Saturday on illegal slaughter houses in Bagong Silang.

Dr. Teodoro Rosales, Caloocan City veterinarian, sought the help of the NMIC and Mayor Reynaldo Malonzo after learning that several slaughter houses were operating illegally in Caloocan North, Bagong Silang in particular.

After two weeks of surveillance by Rosales’ office on the reported illegal slaughter activities, a composite team from NMIC, the City Administrator’s Office, Business License and Permit Office, and the Sanitation Division, accompanied by the local police, swooped down in Bagong Silang at about 3 a.m. Saturday. The operation also resulted in the arrest of Marilou Candido, Memorie Salvador, Neneng Campaya, Maribel Suarez, Mercy Aliaga, Nicanor Icaro, Normita Esguerra and Lilibeth Almeda for allegedly violating RA 7394 (Consumer Act of the Philippines).

Rosales said the offenders reasoned out that they have been in backyard slaughter for several years already as Bagong Silang has no slaughter house of its own. But Rosales said there are two slaughter houses in nearby Novaliches, Quezon City and one in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, only a few minutes away from Bagong Silang.

Dr. Eduardo Oblena, Metro Manila-NMIC regulatory division chief, said the law requires that animals for human consumption must be slaughtered in an NMIC accredited slaughter house and the meat must be properly inspected and certified fit for consumption by an NMIC inspector.

Offenders, he said, could be fined P1,000 to up to P10,000 and could face imprisonment of two months but not more than a year.