Chicharon makers use imported pig skins!

There was this curious report I read in The Philippine Star and The FREEMAN yesterday that was headlined, “Philippine Crocodile Extinct in 10 years.” I don’t doubt the veracity of this report because the natural habitat of the crocodile has now been invaded by humans, who found crocodiles a threat to their way of life and started killing them, not only for food but its hide is used for bags or boots. A clear example of this can be found so close to us, in Lake Danao in Camotes, the only freshwater lake in Cebu Province.

Lake Danao used to be infested with crocodiles eons ago, but when people started living there, the crocodile population started to decline and now they are totally gone. During the Speakership of then Rep. Jose de Venecia, he was the butt of jokes when a similar report came out that crocodiles in the Philippines would soon be extinct as most of them have evolved from crocs to congressmen.

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When The FREEMAN came up with that front page news that the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Region VII found bacterial contamination in one of our favorite Filipino (actually, we got this from Spain) dishes called “Chorizo” found in our wet markets in Cebu City, Mandaue and Talisay cities, I wasn’t surprised at all. First of all, except for Talisay City, the abattoirs of these Local Government Units (LGUs) are not accredited by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) which is under the Department of Agriculture (DA) hence there really is no “quality control” being done by these LGUs to assure their constituents/consumers that our meat products are fit for human consumption.

When I was the Market Consultant in Cebu City, I did my best to “force” the chorizo makers working in the ground floor of Carbon Unit I to move to the unused second floor of the Carbon Market Unit III so they could at least ensure that they would have a clean working environment. But then Cebu City Market Administrator Raquel Arce reported to me that these chorizo makers did not want to move because of too many reasons. But my reckoning is simply, these people are so used to their ways, they just don’t want to budge. So they continue on their merry way making chorizo in Carbon Unit I which exposes these food products to be contaminated. Now it has happened!

If there is anything that our LGUs ought to be doing, they should provide a clean and sanitized environment for food processing. But even then, Dr. Alvin Leal of the NMIS Meat Inspection Import/Export Division told me during our taping yesterday (the Meat Industry is the topic of our show on Straight from the Sky this Monday with Dr. Leal and Mr. Jimmy Escaño) that there are only two accredited meat processing facilities, Sun Pride and Talisay City’s wet market.

During my Market Consultancy we were able to see the operations of Sun Pride and you can be sure that all the foods processed there are fit for human consumption. Also, we stopped the abattoir operations outside the Carbon Market because they used sea water to clean the carcass of the animals, sea water that’s beside the squatter areas in Carbon Market that has no toilet facilities. We also affected the closure of the Lorega Abattoir because during our inspection, squatters used the concrete tables where pigs are slaughtered as their toilets when there is no activity in the afternoon.

Now if you ask me, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama ought to fast track first and for all, the accreditation of the Carbon Market with the NMIS. Like it or not, the Carbon Market is not just a market for Cebu City as it really serves Region VII. People as far as Bohol or Leyte even go to Carbon for their market needs.

Incidentally during our taping yesterday, my good friend Jimmy Escaño who is a meat importer told me something I never knew, that the “Chicharon” that is made in the Municipality of Carcar is 99.9% made from imported pig skin! I gathered that we Cebuanos apparently love to eat our “Humba”, Lechon Kawali or Crispy Pata, hence when a local pig is slaughtered there is really very little pig skin left for Chicharon makers to use. Hence they rely heavily on imported skin. After the liberalization of meat imports, these pigs’ skins have become so cheap because apparently the people in Australia or the US where we import meat do not eat pig skin.

Now I gathered that even our chorizo makers are using imported meat because the meat they use are not really the best parts of the animal just like the pig skin, hence it is cheaper to purchase. What we really learned about the meat industry is that, imported meat is really more expensive when you compare apples to apples. What are cheap are imported meats that people abroad do not really care to eat, but we Pinoys love to eat.

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