Phils: 'Hot meat' seized in Pasay City

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 02/25/2009 12:24 PM


Amid nationwide investigations into the Ebola Reston Virus (ERV) contamination among pigs and pig handlers, authorities seized more than 200 kilograms of rotten pork meat at a local market in Pasay City Wednesday.

Local officials arrested Rafael Fruelda in Barangay 186 in Maricaban, as he was loading a bundle of alleged rotten pork meat onto a tricycle. The suspect admitted that the meat had been taken from already dead pigs. The tricycle driver, meanwhile, had reportedly escaped.

Godofredo Villafranca, a veterinarian at the Pasay City Veterinarian Office, confirmed that the meat was rancid, saying that although Fruelda had a valid meat permit, the pork had not passed through a legal slaughterhouse.

Authorities found that the meat was bloody and did not have a National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) seal, making the pork unsafe for consumption. The meat was reportedly disposed and fed to crocodiles.

Fruelda was charged with violations to the Meat Inspection Code and Consumer Act of the Philippines.

The Pasay City Veterinary Office reportedly said it is planning to appeal to government officials to impose more penalties and higher fines on those found selling rotten meat.

NMIS chief veterinarian Dr. Ana Maria Cabel had earlier issued a statement blaming low fines for the continued sale of banned ‘hot meat.’ 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.

In a statement issued Monday, the Department of Health urged consumers to buy pork meat tagged with the National Meat Inspection Service Seal (NMIS). Double-dead pork, popularly called “botcha”, are usually smelly, cold, pale and cost almost half the original market price. The NMIS has reportedly tightened its control on unsafe pork sale practices and prevent the entry of double dead meat into the market. -- with a report from Dominic Almelor, ABS-CBN News

as of 02/25/2009 1:11 PM