Dahil sa mas murang presyo, mas tinatangkilik ng mga mamimili ang pagbili ng imported frozen meat kaysa sa local fresh meat sa merkado. Pero ang mas malaking problema — ang ilan sa mga ibinebenta nito sa mga palengke at grocery … smuggled at expired na pala. Ang isinagawang inspeksyon at pagkumpiska sa ilang ilegal at expired meat products sa Maynila, sinundan ng ‘Reporter’s Notebook.’ Panoorin ang buong ulat sa video.
Journalists Maki Pulido and Jun Veneracion provide in-depth analysis on the biggest news stories in the Philippines.
Watch it every Saturday, 11 PM on GMA. Subscribe to youtube.com/gmapublicaffairs for our full episodes. #ReportersNotebook
Journalists Maki Pulido and Jun Veneracion provide in-depth analysis on the biggest news stories in the Philippines.
Watch it every Saturday, 11 PM on GMA. Subscribe to youtube.com/gmapublicaffairs for our full episodes. #ReportersNotebook
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00:00 [Gunshots]
00:02 [Music]
00:08 In some restaurants, shops, and warehouses,
00:11 [Gunshots]
00:13 the authorities started to steal and distribute chicken,
00:17 pork, beef, and even calapati and rabbit.
00:21 [Gunshots]
00:22 All of these smuggled or illegally entered the country.
00:26 [Gunshots]
00:27 [Speaking in Tagalog]
00:35 [Gunshots]
00:36 Some of them were expired and were sold in the market.
00:40 [Gunshots]
00:41 Other pigs were being slaughtered.
00:43 [Music]
00:47 The meat was ground and thrown away.
00:50 There was a risk of injury to the food.
00:54 [Speaking in Tagalog]
01:01 [Music]
01:02 [Speaking in Tagalog]
01:11 [Music]
01:22 [Speaking in Tagalog]
01:26 Here in the Commonwealth Market in Quezon City,
01:29 we met Ms. Melinda,
01:31 who has been selling meat products for almost two decades.
01:34 In her business, she teaches her children to study.
01:39 But before, they could sell up to 20 pieces of whole pork in one day.
01:45 Before, we could finish this much at one time.
01:49 Now, how many pieces?
01:51 We can't finish 10 pieces.
01:52 Sometimes, we can't even finish 10 pieces.
01:59 She teaches the reason for the increase of imported frozen meat products
02:04 that are being imported to the country.
02:06 They are often brought back to the country after a whole day of selling.
02:12 We were really strong before, but now, we are just lucky.
02:17 While we were walking around the market,
02:20 we saw this imported frozen meat.
02:23 One of the buyers is the owner of Tapsiloga, Ivan.
02:27 Why do you buy frozen meat?
02:29 Because it's cheap.
02:31 How much do you save?
02:32 It's big.
02:34 Around 50 pesos.
02:35 Around 50 pesos per kilo.
02:37 50 pesos is a big amount.
02:40 Especially if it's a lot.
02:41 But it's noteworthy that frozen meat is exposed and not inside the freezer.
02:47 According to the National Meat Inspection Service or NMIS,
02:50 imported frozen meat is not prohibited from being sold in the market.
02:55 But whoever sells it should have a proper storage facility or freezer.
03:00 Since it's imported, it's served as frozen products,
03:04 so it should be in the right place, which is the freezer.
03:07 That's the violation of our businessmen, especially those in the market,
03:12 that it can't be exposed.
03:14 Our treatment is different from the local market.
03:17 Our treatment is different from imported frozen products.
03:20 Why do you sell frozen meat?
03:22 Because it's cheap.
03:24 Aren't you afraid that you might be caught by the inspectors?
03:31 I'm not afraid, but I don't have a place to go.
03:34 Nene and Melinda's Meat Shop has been selling fresh pork for almost 2 decades.
03:40 But when frozen or imported pork started to be sold in the market,
03:46 they were forced to sell frozen pork because there were more people buying frozen or imported pork.
03:55 In fact, there's a freezer next to their meat shop
03:59 because they're selling frozen pork.
04:04 It's worth noting that imported pork is cheaper than local meat products.
04:10 The pork belly, which costs P320, is sold in frozen for P270.
04:17 But the meat is almost the same.
04:20 The meat is sold for P270 per kilo in fresh, but in frozen, it's P260 per kilo.
04:29 The problem is, some imported meat is already smuggled and expired.
04:34 Last week, the NMIS and Department of Agriculture, or DA,
04:43 and other government agencies started operations on smuggled meat products from different parts of the country.
04:48 This warehouse is full of expired pork and other meat that is being sold in the market.
04:55 It's deteriorated. If we look at it, it's scattered.
04:59 Other pork is already black.
05:02 Approximately, it's P175,000 kilos of meat.
05:11 If the camera can smell it, you can't explain it because it's already rotten.
05:22 Based on our surveillance, this is already in our country.
05:29 There's no government document.
05:31 Last week, the Reporter's Notebook accompanied several operatives
05:36 in the confiscation of smuggled and expired meat products in Manila.
05:41 The first target is a Chinese grocery store.
05:51 This is the NMIS and DA.
05:53 The operatives immediately inspected the freezer of the store.
05:58 They confiscated different kinds of expired frozen meat,
06:02 like black chicken, frozen rabbit, peking duck, and other expired products.
06:08 We are not allowed to import this to the Philippines.
06:11 It's not allowed to pass through our inspection.
06:14 We call this undocumented product.
06:17 It can cause diseases, which can be harmful to our livestock industry,
06:22 and even to zoonotic diseases.
06:24 The second target is another Chinese grocery store.
06:31 Based on our surveillance report,
06:34 there are black chicken and duck that are not documented.
06:41 Here, they found different kinds of imported meat, like calapati, peking duck, and yellow chicken.
06:48 If you don't have a permit, we will confiscate your products.
06:54 It's better to do this so we can have a place to go.
06:59 In the same building, the Chinese restaurant's next door was immediately noticed by the authorities.
07:05 They are the bestseller, roasted peking duck.
07:10 This is the boxer, this is the…
07:12 Yes, the one with the plastic.
07:13 But when the NMIS inspected the restaurant,
07:16 they found that the meat was smuggled.
07:21 The next thing the authorities went to was the next door store.
07:28 They found pieces of suckling pig, black chicken, and yellow chicken.
07:36 It's a threat because we have a lot of people who are smuggling it.
07:43 In the next 5 operations,
07:46 the value of smuggled and expired products is estimated at more than 1.5 million pesos.
07:53 From Manila, they brought confiscated products to Bulacan to grind and throw away.
07:59 According to the NMIS,
08:01 the danger of eating expired frozen products is high.
08:06 It is also possible to bring diseases such as bird flu and African swine flu,
08:10 smuggled products because it did not pass the correct inspection process.
08:15 According to the Bureau of Animal Industry,
08:19 in 2022, 1.17 billion kilos of frozen meat entered the country.
08:27 In the first six months of 2023, it increased to 1.36 billion kilos.
08:33 According to an expert,
08:35 imported products have a great effect on our local poultry and hog raisers.
08:40 The recovery of livestock industry is advancing
08:44 precisely because of the increase of smuggled imports.
08:49 It's really hard for our farmers to recover.
08:54 According to the Bureau of Customs or BOC,
08:57 in 2022, the value of smuggled or illegal agricultural products entered the country reached 1.2 billion pesos.
09:05 This includes smuggled vegetables, fruits, and meat.
09:09 In 2022, the criminal case of BOC Action Team against smugglers in the Department of Justice against importers reached 100.
09:20 They also filed 21 administrative cases against trusted customs officials.
09:26 In the second State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr.,
09:32 he promised to punish smugglers and hoarders and said that he will not allow this kind of behavior.
09:39 They are doing a crime.
09:42 It is not only the farmers who are in danger, but also us, the buyers.
09:48 That is why we will not allow this kind of behavior.
09:51 We are hoping that this year, hopefully, someone will catch and catch.
09:56 Because smuggling under the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Law is a crime.
10:01 As long as the agricultural smuggling in the country is not stopped and not solved,
10:07 our small farmers and small businessmen will continue to be affected.
10:14 I hope that the promise to punish those behind this illegal behavior will be fulfilled.
10:21 [Music]
10:42 you