The Manila City Hall said yesterday the Department of Agriculture’s National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) found numerous hygiene violations at the city-owned Vitas slaughterhouse when it was still operated by the Dealco Farms Inc., prompting the NMIS to downgrade the abattoir’s status early this year.
Dealco is owned by the family of Manila Councilor Dennis Alcoreza.
In a related development, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is set to call Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim next week to answer allegations of human rights violations when the city government ordered the takeover of the Vitas slaughterhouse in Tondo.
The CHR investigation is an offshoot of the complaint filed by the family of Alcoreza regarding the manner they were dragged bodily and carried out of the slaughterhouse by policemen who enforced the takeover of the disputed facility.
In a statement, city legal officer lawyer Renato dela Cruz said based on inspection records, the NMIS found 13 major violations, one minor and one serious, during an inspection conducted last Jan. 16 and 17.
Dela Cruz said these violations included unhygienic collection of animal blood for food, beef quarters lying on the floor, and intestines dangling in a canal.
Rodent and cat feces were also seen in the area, along with eating and drinking of workers in the slaughter area, said Dela Cruz.
He said the NMIS also noted the lack of hand sanitizers. The report also noted that butchers were not sanitizing their hands and tools.
Also included in the violations were the use of common transport vehicles for live animals and finished products. He said they also saw some stunned cattle had excessively distended abdomens with water oozing from their nostrils.
NMIS regional technical National Capital Region director Dario Bonifacio Canillas recommended to executive director lawyer Jane Bacayo that the slaughterhouse be downgraded and the violations corrected “within 24 hours to seven days because of the food safety concerns.”
Dela Cruz said that based on the NMIS report, it was the second time that serious violations were identified in the abattoir. – Sandy Araneta, Perseus Echeminada