Slaughterhouse to butcher 2K pigs during holidays

PUBLIC slaughterhouses in Davao City anticipate butchering at least 2,000 heads of pigs for the holiday season, said slaughterhouse master of the City Economic Enterprise Engr. Joseph Gabut.

Gabut said on Wednesday, November 16 that they are already expecting to butcher around 1,000 heads on both December 23 and December 30 in preparation for Noche Buena on December 24 and New Year’s eve on December 31.

“Gikan gabii hangtod hapon sa December 24, wala’y tuluganay ang atong mga butcher to accommodate ang entries ng mga clients and walk-in sa mga commercial companies (The butchers will work from the evening of December 23 until the afternoon the next day),” Gabut said.

The public slaughterhouses managed by the city government through the City Economic Enterprise are the Maa and Malagos Slaughterhouses. The Calinan and Toril slaughterhouses used to operate but were closed in September because it was not conforming to some regulations.

Gabut said the two public slaughterhouses are readying for the upcoming busy season. He said the establishments are equipped with a proper chilling room, meat cutting and deboning room, and processing room.

As for the schedule of their operations, the slaughterhouses would receive the livestock from 2:00 to 6:00 pm and butchering will start at 10:00 pm to 3:00 am.

“Pag marami talaga ang demand, mapilitan kami mag dalawang shift per day (If there is a lot of demand, we wil be forced to implement two shifts per day). So meron sa morning, then meron rin sa gabi para sa mga public market clients (So we would have one in the day and another in the evening for clients from the public market),” Gabut said.

Meanwhile, Gabut said the Halal Slaughterhouse in Malagos is awaiting its accreditation from the Mindanao Halal Authority and the National Meat Inspection Services to be halal certified.

In the meantime, the Maa Slaughterhouse and a private slaughterhouse in Panacan are processing halal cuts such as cow, carabao, and goat.

According to Gabut, the city’s government slaughterhouses are funded by the NMIS under the Department of Agriculture with a budget of P200 million. ICM