‘Botcha’ bangus vendors sued

Vendors, be warned: The government is bent on going after those selling “botcha” bangus or spoiled milkfish despite a warning.

Two vendors from the Balintawak market in Quezon City were charged yesterday for selling milkfish affected by the recent fishkill in Batangas and Dagupan City in Pangasinan.

However, the vendors—Recy Mateo and Marlon Ricaro—denied that they were selling “double dead” bangus.

“They claimed that the fish we seized was not theirs. We already warned them and now they did it again so the recourse is to charge them,” said city veterinarian Dr. Ana Marie Cabel.

The vendors were charged with violating the Consumer Act and Sanitation Code at the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office but they were set free after they posted bail of P1,000 each.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Cabel warned vendors at the market against selling “botcha” bangus. Those caught doing so, she added, would be charged in court.

The city veterinary office has set a meeting with Quezon City market officials to discuss possible actions that could be taken against markets found to be selling spoiled milkfish taken from Batangas and Pangasinan.

“The ultimate sanction would be the markets’ closure if [their] vendors insist on selling ‘botcha’ bangus,” Cabel said as she added that she was in favor of the proposal.

Yesterday, Cabel conducted another inspection of market stalls on Old Samson Road in Balintawak and the Commonwealth Market.

Her team seized 200 kilos of spoiled milkfish from vendors in Balintawak, the third operation to be conducted so far in the area which has become notorious for “double dead” pork.

On Wednesday morning, the city veterinary office confiscated 300 kilos of “botcha” bangus, prompting them to conduct a follow-up operation the next day which resulted in a haul of 400 kilos.

At the Commonwealth Market, Cabel said they seized only some 20 to 30 kilos of spoiled milkfish after a parking attendant disrupted their operations.

The city veterinary officer said her team was taking samples of the fish from each stall when a man with a two-way radio who said he was a parking attendant stopped them.

The inspecting team was surprised when the man returned the samples to the stalls and then cut up the fish as if to show that the seized items were safe to eat.

“If only we had protection from the police and the vendors had not resisted, we would have been able to get more of the fish,” Cabel said.

She added that because of the man’s intervention, they were forced to abort the inspection.

The health official said there were at least 10 stalls in the market which were found to be selling “double dead” milkfish.

According to her, a resident of Novaliches recently complained of stomach ache and diarrhea after she ate milkfish.