LEGAZPI CITY, Sept 24 (PIA) – The revenue of the Legazpi City slaughterhouse has exceeded by at least Php5.81 million in the first eight months of this year as compared to the same period last year despite the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic and African Swine Fever (ASF).
Dr. Emmanuel Estipona, chief of the City Veterinary Office (CVO), said that the AA slaughterhouse has posted a remarkable improvement on its income from January to August this year amounting to Php15.30 million as compared to the same period last year amounting to Php9.5 million.
This results to an increase of Php 5.81 million or 37.8 percent. Moreover, the slaughterhouse’s total income in 12 months last year still reached P15.468-million.
SAFE Strategy
Estipona said that the increased revenue was an offshoot of the strategy with the acronym “SAFE” that is now being implemented in the operations of the city’s slaughterhouse.
“Through the SAFE strategy, the ‘AA’ slaughterhouse management is very strict in slaughtering animals through controlled pilferage or illegal slaughtering activities in the community in order to keep Legazpi as free ASF territory. It is also aimed at protecting the hog industry of this city,” he said.
In the SAFE strategy, according to Estipona, S- stands for ‘Slaughterhouse management,’ A-is for ‘Adoption of all the Executive Orders (EO) issued by Mayor Noel E. Rosal,’ F for ‘Free Legazpi African Swine Fever,’ and E is the ‘Enforcement to prevent illegal slaughtering activities.’
The city’s chief veterinarian said that they are confident to hit their P20-million target at the end of this year.
Estipona expressed optimism that the revenue from the slaughter house will continue to improve until the end of this year because of the continuously increasing demand of meat products particularly during the Christmas season.
Meat safety
Estipona stressed that his office has regularly conducted monitoring and inspection of all the meat vendors in the different barangays within the city including malls and department stores to make sure that all the meat from the market are safe for the consuming public.
He said that he already requested the 70 village chiefs to monitor stockyards at their respective jurisdiction and issue a barangay clearance certifying the origin of the hog as it would serve as a reference to accepting hog for slaughtering services at the City class AA Abattoir to prevent possible entry of ASF in Legazpi.
“Almost all the meat vendors from different villages of this city and including some meat vendors from Legazpi City’s neighboring towns prefer to bring their pigs at the city’s slaughterhouse due to the modern equipment being used in its slaughtering services that ensure clean and safe slaughtered meats,” Estipona said.
Estipona noted that the city government is strictly banning slaughtering in the barangays, or in any place outside the city slaughterhouse to avoid proliferation and selling of meat that did not undergo the inspection of the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) office. (SAA/EAS-PIA5/Albay)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
0 Comments