Over P5M worth of 'hot meat' seized in Pasay City

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Undocumented meat products, or “hot meat,” worth P5.19 million were seized in Pasay City during a joint operation by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) last month.

The NBI conducted the operation on September 22 to 23, following surveillance.

The seized goods are approximately 11.5 metric tons of pecking duck, whole pigeon, lamb, yellow chicken, black chicken and other frozen meat products, the DA said.

“Basically, mga Chinese delicacies 'yan...Hindi certified ang China na magbenta sa atin dito ng mga produkto 'yun,” said DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. in a press briefing.

(Basically, those are Chinese delicacies... China isn't certified to sell those products to us here.)

The DA said the raided establishments were neither accredited by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) nor registered with the concerned local government units as meat cold storage warehouses or meat depots.

The NBI also arrested two Chinese individuals for alleged violation of the Meat Inspection Code of the Philippines, which prohibits the sale, transport, or distribution of meat products that did not undergo the necessary inspections.

The seized products are currently secured at Supima Cold Storage, an NMIS-accredited facility in Meycauayan, awaiting a court order for final disposition, the DA said.

Any meat deemed unfit for human consumption will be safely destroyed following official regulations.

The DA warned that illegal meat products could pose risks to humans and even to farm animals, noting that the country has been free from African swine fever and foot-and-mouth diseases.

“Unang-una delikado 'yan, hindi mo alam kung anong sakit niyan,” said Tiu Laurel Jr.

(First of all, that's dangerous—you don't know what kind of disease it might carry.) —LDF, GMA News