Solon wants pork segregated in Muslim markets

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–This lawmaker wants nothing at all to do with pork—of the literal kind.

Lanao del Norte Rep. Imelda Dimaporo has filed a bill requiring that pork and pork products be segregated from nonpork items in supermarkets, meat shops and public markets in places with big Muslim populations.

Under House Bill No. 4928, nonpork meat products sold in markets should be free of any contamination from pork, its derivatives and other substances forbidden under the Islamic faith.

In her explanatory note, Dimaporo, a Christian married to a Muslim, said it was unfortunate that most distributors and retailers of meat products were not sensitive to the religious and cultural practices of Filipino Muslims.

Unfit for Muslims

“Pork products are being handled, stored and sold together with nonpork products, contaminating and rendering the latter unfit for consumption by Muslims,” she said.

In Islam, certain things and acts are sinful and forbidden, a concept known as “haram,” one of the five Islamic commandments that define morality, Dimaporo said.

The category of haram, which includes the intake of pork or its derivatives, is of the highest status of prohibition among Muslims, she said.

In November 2006, a Muslim congresswoman, former Lanao del Sur Rep. Faysah Dumarpa, slapped a waitress during a dinner at the House of Representatives who had served her a dish that turned out to contain bits of pork.

Forbidden meat

“Everybody knows Muslims are forbidden from eating pork. It’s not just a matter of culture but of faith,” Dumarpa had said then.

Recent government statistics indicate there are now close to five million Filipino Muslims all over the country, with the majority concentrated in Mindanao, Dimaporo said.

There are also significant Muslim populations, including tourists and expatriates from Muslim countries, in major cities and urban areas, she said.

Segregation

Under Dimaporo’s bill, segregation shall be observed in all phases involving the handling, storage and selling of nonpork products.

The bill would require owners of supermarkets, meat shops and public and private markets to ensure that the equipment, utensils and other devices used in the storage, handling and selling of nonpork products—such as but not limited to freezers, slicers, cutters, knives, scoops, containers, weighing scales and wrappers—shall be used exclusively for nonpork products.

Violations carry a fine of P5,000 for the first offense, P10,000 for the second and revocation of license to sell meat products for the third offense.