The country’s first government-owned “Triple A” (AAA) slaughterhouse in Tanauan City will start operations in November 2020 and will be expanded to include an additional cold storage and cutting facility.
“On behalf of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, we thank the Tanauan City government for counterparting with the Department of Agriculture for putting up this first modern, government-owned ‘Triple A’ slaughterhouse in the Philippines,” said Agriculture Secretary William Dar, during an inspection on August 28, 2020.
Targeted for completion on November 1, 2020, the P187.2-million facility is jointly funded by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Tanauan City government.
“Undoubtedly, the Tanauan ‘AAA’ slaughterhouse will help propel the modernization of the livestock industry in Batangas, and subsequently provide a sustained livelihood, source of income, and affordable, safe, and hygienic meat products to constituents and neighboring communities, including Metro Manila,” said Secretary Dar.
Located near the Tanauan vegetable trading center, the “AAA” hog slaughterhouse sits on a 1.9-hectare area, donated and developed by the city local government unit (LGU). The slaughterhouse has a total floor area of 2,588 square meters, composed of a mechanized system that can process 500 head of hogs per eight-hour shift. It is equipped with a cold chain network consisting of three chilling rooms, two blast freezers, and three cold storage rooms. Also, it has a meat laboratory and wastewater treatment area.
When the facility starts commercial operation, it will be managed on behalf of the DA and Tanauan LGU by the Unified Batangas Swine Producers Association (UniBat). It will collect fees to sustain its operation and maintenance.
During his visit, Secretary Dar committed to expand the facility by integrating it with a cutting plant, allotting an additional P50 M through the DA-National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS). For the expansion, the Tanauan LGU will acquire adjoining lots.
The Secretary also committed to put up a P50-million cold storage and poultry cutting facility in San Jose, Batangas.
“With these poultry dressing and cutting facilities, we will be a step closer to producing mechanically-deboned meat (MDM), and thus reduce imports. At the same time, it would allow for a value-added enterprise for the benefit of poultry farmers in Batangas and neighboring provinces,” said Secretary Dar.
He also challenged the Tanauan LGU to explore the facility’s best management arrangements with UniBat to benefit thousands of swine and poultry raisers in the Calabarzon region.
“Kami po ay taos-pusong nagpapasalamat kay Secretary at mga kinatawan ng DA. We are accepting his challenge to expand this facility. We are going to acquire land for the processing not only of hogs but also of chicken so that we can help not only our kababayans here in Tanauan but also the hog and poultry growers in neighboring towns,” said Tanauan city Administrator Credo, on behalf of Mayor Mary Angeline Halili.
During the inspection, among those who joined Secretary Dar were: DA Region 4A Director Arnel de Mesa; DA-NMIS Region 4A Technical Operations Director Dr. Randy Lontoc; Tanauan City Veterinarian Dr. Aries Garcia; UniBat President Pedrito Kalaw; and Batangas Egg Producers’ Association. Dr. Jess Medina.
Secretary Dar also urged the Tanauan LGU and UniBat to explore tapping renewable energy, and employ strict biosecurity measures to keep the facility 100 percent free from animal diseases.
“Triple A slaughterhouses are equipped with required facilities including a meat laboratory, and cold storage facilities that are compliant with international standards, so their meat products could be sold and exported to other countries if the Philippines has no incidence of animal diseases that are considered as trade barrier by OIE,” said DA-NMIS Director Dr. Reildrin Morales.
Similarly, the country also has only one government-owned “AAA” poultry dressing plant in Bamban, Tarlac, which is also expected to be operational within the year, Morales said. ### (Gumamela Bejarin, DA-AFID)
