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Fish being in vogue today for the recent notorious fish kill, here’s a story about “one that got away.”
In a recent speech at the International Halal seminar held in Makati, the chairperson of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, Secretary Bai Omera Dianalan Lucman, spoke about the commission prioritizing the growth and sustainability of Halal, or food and non-food items prepared according to Islamic ideals. Her commission’s goal is to promote adherence to strict Halal standards, enabling the country to reap economic benefits from the industry and to “strengthen social cohesion in a multi-cultural country.” (source)
For a non-Muslim, it mystifies to see that “Halal-certified” logo on a food product. “Halal” means “lawful” or permitted under Islamic dietary guideline. More specifically, according to the Koran or the Muslim bible, Muslim followers cannot eat pork, pork products, and animals that had been dead prior to slaughtering; animals not properly prepared in the name of Allah; blood and blood products; and alcohol.
Lucman bemoans the fact that we lag behind neighboring Muslim countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei, which already reap economic benefits from the booming industry. Just to give you an idea, Muslims number up to 1.41 billion or 21 percent of the world’s total population. Since the group, by faith, must consume food that are Halal-certified, then you can just imagine what we stand to gain by getting even a miniscule portion.
But how can the commission operate without funding? Only P8 million has been released out of the Senate-approved budget of P100 million, and this is barely enough to cover the salaries and allowances of its commissioners.
Although her office has repeatedly requested for assistance, Lucman has still been a unable to get an audience with Budget Secretary Butch Abad. How can Lucman operationalize this project, much less put the Philippines in equal footing with our Muslim neighbors?
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- June 14, 2011
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