DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 8 October) – The local government of Mati City in Davao Oriental will establish a Halal-certified dressing plant for chickens, a major project aimed at making the popular surfing spot of the province globally competitive, Mayor Michelle Nakpil-Rabat said.
Halal products from Mindanao being displayed during the Philippine Halal Assembly held at the Marriott Hotel in Pasay City from June 3-5, 2015. Various halal stakeholders from all over the world joined the event. MindaNews photo by Ferdinandh Cabrera
During the Regional Consultative Forum and Promotion on Halal Food Industry on Thursday, Rabat said the construction of the plant would get a budget of P45 million to support the industry in Mindanao.
“Rest assured, from the City of Mati, we will be supporting this. Mati is now going to build a P45-million dressing plant for our chicken.
While it is not yet there, we will make sure that it will be Halal so that we can be competitive in the world because the whole world now is practicing Halal. When you say, ‘buy chicken, this is halal, buy beef this is halal.’ We will do the same with Mati, so globally we will be competitive,” she said.
She said that only a few people and restaurants offer Halal-certified goods and services, leaving the Moro people who are living in the province with limited options.
“We have problems encountered every time we call for meetings. We have difficulties, especially if we have our Muslim brothers and sisters around because we have to be sensitive to their needs as well…
We have to be sensitive to their culture, to what their needs are, and give them respect. You learn to respect them and they will respect you in return,” she said.
The mayor said she wanted her city to seize the promising opportunities for Halal businesses in the world as she noted a growing global demand for the consumption of Halal-certified goods.
Mati is known for its surfing spot Dahican, which draws tourists from different parts of the world.
“Halal means pure and safe, so we want to practice halal as a way of life here in Mati, which is clean, pure and safe. We want to make a safe place for our citizens and for our visitors as well,” Rabat said. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
