SAN SIMON, Pampanga – A cattle farm in Barangay San Pablo this town has exerted extra effort in environmental protection.
D’ Meters Field Corporation, according to co-owner Mario Ong, is in the process of installing a seven-stage wastewater facility that surpasses the required three-stage water filtering system.
D’ Meters Field Corporation is one of the top suppliers of various beef products to well-known meat-processing firms in the country.
Though still in the construction stage, the water filtering system is showing potential in environmental protection.
In a recent visit to the farm, Pampanga media observed that D’ Meters Field Corp. wastewater does not emit foul odor as other feedlots would.
“The wastewater treatment facility usually used by farms only consists of three-stages, the digesting, settling and the final stage before it will be disposed. But on our case, we made it seven to ensure that our waste is clean and safe,” Ong said.
With more than 3,200 heads of cattle held in the farm as of June, D’ Meters is even looking for other means to make their farm more environmentally-friendly.
Ong said the 28-hectare farm has satisfactorily passed recent ammonia emission test conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
While the allowable treshhold unit of ammonia emission should not be more than five, D’ Meters Field Corporation’s emitted ammonia is only measured at two.
Ong said that even the smell from raw organic food and cow manure is controlled so as not to pollute the air of nearby communities.
The Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) issued to them by the DENR is also a manifestation of their commitment to ensure and sustain the orderliness and being environmental-friendly of their business.
D’ Meters Field Corporation, Ong added, is keeping a good relation with the people of the village where it is conducting business.
Out of at least 381 people they employ, including those working in the slaughterhouse, 80 percent come from San Simon.
D’ Meters Field Corporation is just one of the two cattle farms in the country which imports cows directly from Australia.
Aside from its contribution to the national economy, D’ Meters Field Corporation gives out a total P5-million each month in the local economy in the form of salaries.
The amount is on top of the P5 million worth of taxes paid to the local government unit even as they comply with all the requirements set by the municipal government.
Ong said they hold corporate social responsibility programs regularly at the host barangay such as medical missions, feeding programs and other forms of assistance to the community.
