New Slaughterhouses To Boost Meat Processing In Four Provinces

Tarlac, Batangas, Pangasinan, and Ilocos Sur will have new slaughterhouses next year, a development that will allow livestock farmers in those provinces to process meat for local and international markets.

The provinces have signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Agriculture to have double-A and triple-A slaughterhouses built.

The National Meat Inspection Service and the Agribusiness Marketing Assistance Service will put up P290 million for the construction of the slaughterhouses. The agencies, whoch are attached to the DA, will also provide training and technical assistance on running the slaughterhouses.

"The primary purpose of this is to have the capability to export, to have a stable supply and achieve higher quality of meat products," Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said. The construction of the slaughterhouses is also expected to lessen the need for imported meat.

In the first nine months of 2013, the country imported 153 million kilograms of choice cuts against 134.76 million kilograms imported in 2012.

Bamban, Tarlac will get a AAA million poultry slaughter house and trading center worth P120 million while a P150-million AAA slaughterhouse for hogs will be built in Tanauan City in Batangas. The Bamban slaughterhouse will process up to 3,500 chickens an hour and the Tanauan facility will be able to process 250 hogs a day.

Tayug in Pangasinan and Candon in Ilocos Sur will, meanwhile, get P10-million AA slaughterhouses that can handle 100 hogs a day.

Slaughterhouses rated AAA are capable of processing meat for export while those rated AA process meat for the local market. Slaughterhouses rated A also serve the local market but have a lower processing capacity.