1st PH halal rice-chicken meals out this week for Marawi IDPs

MARAWI CITY – The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) will formally introduce to consumers the first Philippine-made Ready-to-Eat (RTE) rice and chicken packed meals in time for the agency’s 119th founding anniversary this week, starting with the distribution of 10,000 free samples for people affected by the crisis here.

The manufacturer of the 911 Foods RTE rice and chicken meals, Ana's Breeder Farm of Davao City, has sought clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prior to the distribution of the packed food, DAF Secretary Manny F. Piñol said in his Facebook post over the weekend.

The RTE Rice and Chicken meal, which comes in three variants – afritada, curry and adobo – was set for assessment by Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial in a meeting Friday with experts of the DAF on food safety, Sec. Piñol said.

Packed in aluminum foils, the 911 Foods RTE stuffs are “produced using international HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) and Halal food safety standards” to ensure their permissibility for consumption by Muslim and non-Muslims alike, the DAF chief said.

Siblings Jonathan and Rachel Ann Suy who collaborated to prepare the RTE rice meals, are “donating their first production to the evacuees, soldiers and policemen in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur,” he added.

Piñol announced earlier the scheduled donation of at least 10,000 packs to Marawi crisis-affected individuals during his visit to more than 20,000 refugees sheltered at an evacuation center in Balo-I, Lanao del Norte to distribute relief goods.

The DAF chief, who can speak “fractured” Maranao dialect, told the evacuees: “Our President, your ‘tunganay” (blood relative) cares for you.”

“President Duterte has been proud about his having a Maranao blood by his maternal grandmother’s lineage from the Samporna clan of the Lanao,” Piñol earlier said.

He was accompanied in the visit by a former Maranao ambassador to the Middle East, whom he quoted as telling the evacuees that the military offensives in this city were meant to flush out terrorist elements and subsequently build a new Marawi that is characterized by good governance.