350 kg of tainted chicken meat seized in Pasay – report

Pasay City officials seized 350 kilograms of “hot" chicken meat near the city market, radio dzBB reported on Sunday. The report said the city police Criminal Investigation Division intercepted the “contaminated" chicken meat about to be delivered to the Pasay City Public Market. It said that shortly after midnight Friday, police acted on a tip from a concerned citizen and found the “shipment" along Primero de Mayo Street, a few meters away from the public market. The police said those who brought the meat to the city fled the area before they arrived. The meat was placed inside a large plastic bag. An initial check showed the meat was contaminated and not fit for human consumption. It was brought to the Pasay City veterinarian’s office for burning. Last October 3, city authorities seized at least 10 tons of “hot" ham being unloaded from a 20-foot container van. The Pasay City veterinary office chanced on the van along Park Avenue. City veterinarian Rodolfo Bernasor said they intercepted the meat at about 1 a.m., Wednesday. The operatives said the ham, which they believed came from China, smelled bad and might have already been spoiled. A certain Susan Co, who claimed to be the owner of the meat, said the ham was from Davao. Co said the ham had a bad smell because it was not yet processed. Last September 17, the Pasay city government ordered nightly market patrols in the city after authorities intercepted 500 kilograms of contaminated meat. Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao “Peewee" Trinidad ordered the local police and city veterinarians to conduct the inspections. Trinidad said he wanted the teams to make sure the “hot" meat does not slip past authorities and reach consumers. He also said it was high time the city government get tough on smugglers of bad meat. Authorities cracked down on hot meat earlier this year after several farms in central Luzon reported that their pigs got ill from hog cholera. - GMANews.TV