27 tons of ‘hot’ meat seized in Manila

MANILA, Philippines — Following a tip, the Manila Veterinary Inspection Board (VIB) and the Manila Police District-Special Mayor’s Reaction Team (MPD-SMaRT) raided the warehouse of Ecosafe Agro-Product Manufacturing and found a truck and a reefer van containing at least 25 tons of pork celery dumplings as well as thousands of cartons of chicken products.

The city government, which said it is the largest shipment of ASF-positive meat products confiscated since Mayor Isko Moreno took office last year, later shut down the company.

Ecosafe is a logistics firm and does not have a permit to import meat or for cold storage.

Recycled?

Sources said the meat products at Ecosafe’s warehouse are allegedly part of a shipment consigned to Dynamic M. International that was seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) from a building in Kawit, Cavite several days ago.

Documents obtained by The STAR showed that Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) chief Reynaldo Raquilang alerted Manila International Container Port district collector Guillermo Pedro Francia on Jan. 20 and 23 regarding food products that arrived from China and were consigned to Dynamic M.

Raquilang told Francia that samples of the dumplings taken from one of Dynamic M.’s reefer vans tested positive for ASF.

The BAI recommended that all the food products that were shipped along with the dumplings “be immediately disposed by burying at the importer’s warehouse compound under the supervision of the BOC examiner and our personnel.”

The ASF-contaminated food products are supposed to be buried at least 25 feet underground, the BAI said.

Raquilang also recommended that all shipments coming from China be put on “alert status.”

In the BOC’s written plan of condemnation, the food products were to be buried at the Marina 1 Container Yard in the Manila Harbor Center and Pier 18 landfill facility on Jan. 29.

Police investigators, however, said they suspected that something was wrong because there was no disposal area in Tondo for condemned products.

A visibly irate Moreno asked BOC personnel present during the raid why there was no coordination with the VIB prior to disposing of the products in Manila.

Moreno also berated BOC officials for handling the condemned products without proper permits from the city government.

A source said they suspected that a Chinese businessman was reportedly talking with several persons at the BOC to retrieve the shipment, but “that is still under investigation.” 

Major Rosalino Ibay Jr., MPD-SMaRT chief, said Fernando Cortez, identified as Ecosafe’s owner, faces charges for violating Republic Act 9296 as amended by Republic Act 10536 or the Meat Inspection Code of the Philippines, Republic Act 10611 or the Food Safety Act of the Philippines, and DA Administrative Orders Series of 2005 or the Revised Rules, Regulations, and Standards Governing the Importation of Meat and Meat Products into the Philippines.