AN OFFICIAL of the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) in Negros Island Region (NIR) said they will not oppose the chicken line operation of the city-owned AVM Bernardo slaughterhouse in Bacolod.
Doctor Naida Bolvar, officer-in-charge regional technical director of NMIS-NIR said the AVM Bernardo has an agreement with the City Government and they will not stop it.
The management of AVM Bernardo had earlier asked the City Government to require the dressing of poultry products at the slaughterhouse by enforcing the City Ordinance 459 series of 2008.
“We won’t it oppose as long as AVM Bernardo will comply with the NMIS requirement to put up a poultry dressing plant,” Bolvar said.
She said the entrance and exit of the poultry dressing plant should be separate from the slaughterhouse building to avoid cross-contamination.
Councilor Bartolome Orola, chairperson of committee on markets, said the chicken line has been stipulated in the agreement so it should be operated.
“The chicken line should be implemented so that the AVM Bernardo should not incur big losses in revenue by approximately P600,000 every month,” he said.
Orola added it is the right time to operate the chicken line because there’s a big consumption of the chicken in Bacolod and the City Government should ensure the health of the consumers.
Glorydee Cometa, AVM Bernardo plant manager, said the poultry dressing plant is an additional investment so they need an approval first to lift the moratorium to operate the chicken line.
“Once the moratorium is lifted, then the Bacolod City Council will issue a resolution that we could start the chicken line operation and we will ask for one year for the rehabilitation, and accreditation with the NMIS and Department of Environment and Natural Resources,” she said.
Marvin Tañada, legal counsel of AVM-Bernardo, said his client started its operation in 2008 and the chicken line was not operated.
“It was non-operational because of the moratorium. We are asking to lift the moratorium so that the chicken line will be opened,” Tañada said.
He added that the city government should enforce the City Ordinance 459 to ensure food sanitation.
Orola said his committee will hold a second hearing next month.