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By Rommel C. Lontayao, Reporter
JUSTICE has been served with the
Manila City government’s controversial takeover of a
slaughterhouse owned by City Councilor Dennis Alcoreza’s family (Dealco),
the Vitas Meat Dealers Multi Purpose Cooperative said Saturday.
In a joint statement, the meat
dealers, led by Romeo Hernandez and Rene Tinoco, thanked Mayor
Alfredo Lim of Manila for “freeing” them from the clutches of
the Dealco and upholding what is just and right no matter who gets
hurt.
“Justice has been finally
served to us meat dealers. Through the years, we have witnessed
Dealco’s crooked and selfish management of the Vitas
slaughterhouse,” the group said in Filipino.
Dealco has been operating the
lone slaughterhouse in Manila for the past eight years under a
contract with the city government. Earlier, city legal officer
Renato dela Cruz said Dealco has violated provisions of the
contract, which left the city government with no other choice but a
forced takeover.
Dealco’s pitfalls include
failure to modernize and maintain sanitary conditions, remit
1-percent city share from its gross earnings, pay rentals and real
property taxes, having it subleased to another family-owned
corporation, and for allowing cockfighting and operating a fitness
gym in the premises.
The group also revealed that for
the past years, Dealco was made to manage the said abattoir that led
to the other meat dealers’ suffering.
Tinoco recounted how at least 13
of them were dumped to operate in a very small place and were banned
from using modern equipments.
It was learned that the takeover
of the said slaughterhouse was the result of several meetings with
the said group that requested the city government to look into the
unhygienic condition of the place since it poses hazards to the
health of customers and dealers alike.
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