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BUGIAS, Benguet: “We have to teach our fellow Cordillerans to eat
more vegetables than dog meat,” said Mel Alipio, country
representative of the Network for Animals Philippines (NAP), at
their first seminar on kimchi production over the weekend.
Together with Oscar and Lili Oh, visiting Korean
educators, NAP conducted a kimchi production seminar, on Monday in
this town, a first of a series of kimchi production workshops they
plan for the Cordillera region.
“We have started with the Rural Improvement
Club of Bugias town. We will also be training club’s members in
the different municipalities, first in the province of Benguet then
the rest of the region,” Alipio continued.
Kimchi is a local delicacy in Korea consisting
of pickled vegetables.
Alipio said, there are many vegetables grown in
the region, we must teach our fellow Cordillerans to eat more of the
vegetables they produce than eating meat, particularly dog meat that
is unhealthy.
The NAP, a nongovernmental organization is an
advocate of the anti-cruelty treatment of animals.
It is an organization that has spearheaded the
anti-dog meat eating and anti-cruelty to animals campaign in the
Philippines, particularly in the region.
“We must now look into the health aspects of
eating dog meat,” Alipio said, adding that with so many vegetables
in the Cordillera, “we are trying to introduce eating of processed
vegetables instead of eating dog meat, which is healthier.”
The Cordillera region is considered as one of
the places where dog meat is a delicacy, aside from its value in the
region’s customs and indigenous practices.
“We would like to teach the locals to make use
of the local vegetables (womboc, raddish, pepino, etc) to be part of
the regular diet of the Cordillerans, aside from their regular
consumption of meat, specially dog meat,” Alipio said, noting that
processed vegetables could also be a source of income for the
community.
-- Larry Madarang
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