The City Veterinarian and Agriculture Office-Meat Inspection Section (MIS) emphasized the importance of conducting regular meat inspections and disclosed the penalties to be imposed on violators.
Veterinarian IV Narcisa B. Guminigin said the MIS does daily inspections at meat establishments on newly slaughtered meat to prevent consumption of unhygienically-handled, spoiled, and adulterated meat.
A separate daily post-meat establishment inspection by the city public market office and spot inspection by the Meat Market Monitoring Task force is then conducted that may lead to the confiscation of condemned meat products.
The concerned meat retailers are penalized P5,000 for each violation followed by orders of payment issued by the City Treasury Office with instructions for violators to settle their penalties, Guminigin said.
The orders of payment will be forwarded to the CTO for tagging the business permit of the violators as part of the city’s strategy to enforce compliance among offenders in settling their penalties.
She revealed 23 meat retailers were apprehended last year for the said violation.
There are also other penalties for violators of zoning requirements, shop planning and design, electrical and lighting requirements, sanitation requirements, and solid waste management where those caught will be fined a P1,000 fine for the first offense; P3,000 fine for the second offense plus a warning; and a P5,000 fine and closure of the establishment for the third offense.
Guminigin reassured the public that even during holidays and weekends, the MIS will continue to inspect the meat processing facility at Slaughterhouse Compound where an average of 230 heads of pigs, cows and goats are butchered daily.
She said there are many instances where meat sellers soak their meat products in blood to make them appear fresh so she is advising buyers of meat products in the public to look for the meat inspection certificate of the establishment or be knowledgeable in looking for indicators of fresh meat. – Iris Shantel Gutierrez
