ANGELES CITY – With Metro Manila already on alert against double-dead or “botcha” livestock meat, sources of the contraband seem to have shifted towards northern pro-vinces, as this city’s Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan reported yesterday the confiscation of some 330 kilos of such meat being offered to vendors in the local market.
Pamintuan said informers, whom he did not identify, initially told his wife Herminia about strangers offering low cost pork to vendors in the wet market in barangay Pampang, the biggest public market in this city.
He said that early dawn yesterday, the police got information that persons on board jeepneys had arrived with some 330 kilos of pork and were convincing market vendors to buy them.
The suspects, however, were apparently warned about the arriving police and drove off to unknown destination, leaving behind their double-dead meat.
Pamintuan said that the case was the first since he took over as mayor this year.
“Our officials in our public market are very strict in the quality of meat and other food products that are being sold there,” he noted.
He also warned dealers of double-dead meat not to try again to penetrate Angeles City, as he vowed to jail on those caught.
“They have no right to endanger the health of innocent and unsuspecting persons,” he added.
“With the heat on them in Metro Manila, the sources of botcha have shifted to northern provinces. But they should remember provincial highways are not complicated so they could readily be intercepted,” he said.
Pamintuan called on the Central Luzon police officials to link up with the Bureau of Animal Industry and the Department of Health in establishing checkpoints in mayor highways in the region.
Earlier, Dr. Eric Tayag, officer-in-charge of the Department of Health National Epidemiology Center, said eating double dead meat or those ailing when butchered could contract all sorts of illnesses and even lead to death.
Among such illnesses are diarrhea and sepsis.
“Worms from the pig could go to the brain and cause seizures that could lead to death. If the bacteria is a mild one, it may cause diarrhea,” he said.
He also said that cooking such meat does not mean the meat would already be safe as virus could not be killed by heat.
Tayag also urged the public to be cautious in buying meat amid reports that some vendors mix chemicals in double dead meat to remove its foul smell.
He urged consumers to make sure that the meat they buy was inspected by the National Meat Inspection Service, and that fresh meat should be firm and grayish-pink in color.
Only recently, two residential areas in Pandi, Bulacan were raided by the police after they were found to be roasting double dead pigs for cooking into “paksiw na lechon” for retailing.
Pandi Mayor Enrique Roque said many people are enticed to the illegal trade of hot meat because the law is weak for violators. At present, those arrested for selling and transporting of hot meat violates an ordinance with a penalty ranging from P1,000 to P5,000.
Pamintuan said informers, whom he did not identify, initially told his wife Herminia about strangers offering low cost pork to vendors in the wet market in barangay Pampang, the biggest public market in this city.
He said that early dawn yesterday, the police got information that persons on board jeepneys had arrived with some 330 kilos of pork and were convincing market vendors to buy them.
The suspects, however, were apparently warned about the arriving police and drove off to unknown destination, leaving behind their double-dead meat.
Pamintuan said that the case was the first since he took over as mayor this year.
“Our officials in our public market are very strict in the quality of meat and other food products that are being sold there,” he noted.
He also warned dealers of double-dead meat not to try again to penetrate Angeles City, as he vowed to jail on those caught.
“They have no right to endanger the health of innocent and unsuspecting persons,” he added.
“With the heat on them in Metro Manila, the sources of botcha have shifted to northern provinces. But they should remember provincial highways are not complicated so they could readily be intercepted,” he said.
Pamintuan called on the Central Luzon police officials to link up with the Bureau of Animal Industry and the Department of Health in establishing checkpoints in mayor highways in the region.
Earlier, Dr. Eric Tayag, officer-in-charge of the Department of Health National Epidemiology Center, said eating double dead meat or those ailing when butchered could contract all sorts of illnesses and even lead to death.
Among such illnesses are diarrhea and sepsis.
“Worms from the pig could go to the brain and cause seizures that could lead to death. If the bacteria is a mild one, it may cause diarrhea,” he said.
He also said that cooking such meat does not mean the meat would already be safe as virus could not be killed by heat.
Tayag also urged the public to be cautious in buying meat amid reports that some vendors mix chemicals in double dead meat to remove its foul smell.
He urged consumers to make sure that the meat they buy was inspected by the National Meat Inspection Service, and that fresh meat should be firm and grayish-pink in color.
Only recently, two residential areas in Pandi, Bulacan were raided by the police after they were found to be roasting double dead pigs for cooking into “paksiw na lechon” for retailing.
Pandi Mayor Enrique Roque said many people are enticed to the illegal trade of hot meat because the law is weak for violators. At present, those arrested for selling and transporting of hot meat violates an ordinance with a penalty ranging from P1,000 to P5,000.
