Wednesday, November 29, 2006 Editorial: Rotten meat
WHAT'S with all the supposedly smuggled meat proliferating in the province? We were initially shocked by some P3.2 million of these pieces of hot meat that cropped up all of a sudden in Guagua town not so long ago.
Now, some P20 million have again been seized, this time by elements of Task Force Anti-Smuggling, at the Kayabe Ice Plant in Mexico town.
What more, the meat -- placed inside cardboard boxes -- were supposed to have been "missing" from the Bureau of Customs.
So, how did they get here? Who took them here? Who benefited from the cargo?
Someone rented the ice storage space where the smuggled meats were stored. Someone who should be made responsible -- and someone has definitely benefited from these goods.
These and a lot more questions are yet to be answered by anyone, not even the authorities. But one thing is for sure: there are unscrupulous individuals out there who have nothing in mind but to make a buck or two (read: thousands, even millions) at the expense of unknowing consumers.
Such is life in this world of poverty. Kapit sa patalim, ika nga. But this is a very dangerous practice they're getting used to doing.
Aren't they worried of poisoning whoever bought the meat and then consumed it? Aren't they afraid that they would be made to pay for what they have done? And aren't they afraid of being incarcerated for bringing in smuggled and rotten meat that was supposed to have been disposed of?
Rest assured that the authorities will dig and dig deep. After all, this is the second time this has happened -- and there may have been unreported smuggling of these rotten meat in the province in the past.
Please do something about this, sirs, before someone gets hurt.
