abs-cbnNEWS.com | 02/26/2009 1:10 PM
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/02/26/09/3000-kilos-hot-meat-seized-balintawak
Amid reports of Ebola Reston Virus (ERV) infections among pigs and pig handlers, police seized 3,000 kilos of rotten pork meat at a Quezon City Market Wednesday.
Authorities arrested four vendors who were reportedly unloading from a jeepney 3,000 kilos of rotten pork meat at the MC Market in Balintawak at about 11 p.m. Wednesday evening.
This was after Quezon City Police Department (QCPD) and the Quezon City Health Office conducted meat inspections and found several batches of meat being sold at less than their normal market price. Authorities said that the normal selling price for pork is about P150 per kilo, while "double dead meat" is sold at P90 to P100 only.
The pork flesh was also reportedly smelly, pale, and had no National Meat Inspection Service (NIMS) seal, signs that the meat was unsafe for consumption. Reports by the Quezon City Crime Investigation Detection Unit (CIDU) revealed that the vendors were carrying legitimate meat permits.
Authorities said that the meat was allegedly delivered from Bulacan, and did not pass legal inspections by the NIMS. The Health office also said that the meat could have been carved from sick or dead pigs who may have died from heat stroke.
Health officers said that eating rotten meat, popularly called "botcha", would cause numerous health hazards including diarrhea.
In light of the unabated sale of 'hot meat' on the market, meat inspector Dicoroso Domingo called for harsher penalties for those found selling rotten meat. "Sana yung Congress taasan iyong penalty," he said.
The vendors, meanwhile, reportedly told authorities that they resorted to illegal activities because their businesses were losing money. "Wala na po kasi kaming alam na alternatibong trabaho eh," a female vendor said in an interview with ABS-CBN.
The four suspects were charged for violating the Consumer Act of the Philippines and Republic Act 9296 or the Meat Inspection Code.
Under the Consumer Act of the Philippines, the illegal sale of unsafe products like double-dead meat has a corresponding penalty of P1,000 to P10,000 and not less than six-months but not more than five years of imprisonment. -- with a report from Doland Castro, ABS-CBN News
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