GENERAL SANTOS CITY–The city government here has allocated an additional PHP6 million for the continuing upgrade and modernization of its slaughterhouse.
Paulito Maquilang, city slaughterhouse master, said Thursday the additional funds will be used to acquire various modern equipment and improve its operations and services.
Maquilang said it will complete the ongoing upgrade of their equipment and facilities, which initially received a funding of about PHP4 million.
The initial batch of slaughtering, meat handling and processing equipment arrived last April and has already been installed, he said.
“We’re targeting the installation of the additional equipment by the second quarter next year,” Maquilang said.
The city slaughterhouse is currently classified by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) as a Class “A” standard facility. These are slaughterhouses “with facilities and operational procedures sufficiently adequate that the livestock and fowls slaughtered therein are suitable for sale in any market, domestic or international.”
Once the upgrade is completed, Maquilang said the city slaughterhouse would be at par with Class “AA” standard facilities in the area. According to NMIS, “AA” slaughterhouses are those “with facilities and operational procedures sufficiently adequate that the livestock and fowls slaughtered therein are suitable for sale in any market domestic or international.”
“This means it can already process meat products that can be shipped to major markets like Metro Manila,” Maquilang said.
Region 12 (Soccsksargen), which hosts a number of “AA” and “AAA-grade” abattoir or slaughterhouses, is the country’s leading producer of “pork-in-a-box” products.
Six of these companies are based in this city while the other two are located in nearby South Cotabato.
Data from the Department of Agriculture 12’s Veterinary Quarantine Services showed that the region produces some 120,000 heads of excess hogs annually, valued at about PHP1.09 billion. (Hydee Templonuevo/PNA)
