City to manage, operate proposed Modern Abattoir

17 August 2021 – The city government will bankroll, manage and operate the proposed modern abattoir that will be established within a 1-hectare portion of the 10-hectare property ceded to the city by the agriculture department as an expansion area for the city’s high impact projects.

The agreement for the city to fund and eventually manage and operate the modern slaughterhouse was reached by city officials during the recent management committee meeting held at the Baguio Convention Center after the city’s local finance committee presented the proposed options on how to undertake the implementation of the project.

Assistant City Budget Officer Severina de Leon stated that privatization is a possible option for the project if the local government cannot afford to do so but for as long as the city has available funds, it is still best for the local government to construct, manage and operate the facility.

Earlier, the City Veterinary and Agriculture Office (CVAO) proposed funding of at least P108 million for a modern abattoir in the Baguio Dairy farm property that was ceded to the local government by the agriculture department but it was not yet certain whether or not the same will be implemented by the city or it will be privatized.

Based on the financial study conducted by the committee, the city government can recover its investment spread for over 7 years with a return of investment of around 23 percent per annum of which can be part of the income-generating projects of the city.

Further, the proposed modern abattoir will make the city one of the few local governments in the Cordillera that will have a double-A slaughterhouse compliant with existing standards of the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) as the city’s present slaughterhouse has not yet been issued such accreditation because of the absence of the required environmental compliance certificate (ECC) due to the absence of a separate sewerage treatment plant (STP) for the existing facility.

Initially, the slaughterhouse was planned to be relocated within a property in Pinsao Proper but the same did not materials because of problems on the proposed site, thus, the city to look for other

alternatives to facilitate the transfer of the abattoir to a suitable area that will allow its expansion for the mechanized operation of the facility.

The city’s local finance committee was tasked to conduct a financial study on which existing options will be the most advantageous to the city government in modernizing its slaughterhouse to improve the existing facilities and services offered.

The city government benchmarked the existing modern abattoirs in the cities of Tanauan and Lipa, Batangas in designing the city’s proposed modern slaughterhouse to further improve its services to the local meat industry and to provide mechanized operation of the facility for efficient and effective services. – Dexter A. See