Tarlac meat processors get new equipment from DTI

CONCEPCION, Tarlac— A set of new equipment was provided by the Depar tment of Trade and Industry (DTI) Region III to meat processors from Concepcion, Tarlac in turnover ceremonies held at the Concepcion Municipal Hall recently.

DTI Tarlac Provincial Director Agnes Ramirez and Concepcion Mayor Andres Lacson signed the Memorandum of Agreement for the use of the equipment to upgrade the production of meat products by local meat makers.

DTI provided a set of equipment amount ing to P708,000 which include meat grinders, meat and bone cutter, meat mixer, chest freezer, band sealer, working tables, vacuum sealers, meat slicer and meat stuffer. The complete set of the modern equipment will benefit at least 50 meat processors in Concepcion who have until recently used crude meat processing facilities.

Dur ing the turnover ceremony, Lacson expressed his sincerest gratitude for par tner ing with the local government of Concepcion, Tar lac as the cooperator for the Shared Service Facility (SSF) provided by DTI. He noted that Concepcion has been tradi tional ly known for i ts delicious meat products like “burung babi” (cured pork) and “pindang damulag” ( cured carabao meat) . He also said that once a mall along the SCTEX expressway will be completed, the meat products of the municipality will be displayed to generate sales and widen their market.

APALIT — A known businessman here who believes in the ability of Vice-Presidential aspirant Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. manifested support for him.

Jaime Tetangco, a known Apaliteño businessman, said that he suppor t s the senator even if he and Marcos are not “close.”

He added that as a busi nessman, he believes that business in the country will improve when Marcos would be elected as the second highest official of the Philippines.

Tetangco furthered that his close friend who is a contractor told him that provinces in the northern par t of the Philippines where the Marcos clan comes from, are booming in terms of investments.

“I have a fr iend who is a contractor and has several projects in the nor thern par t of the country told me that it is good for the businessmen to invest there because officials and employees were not anything from the investor s,” he said.

Oscar Alday of the Concepcion Business Club and Councilor Bienvenido Estrada both expressed their gratitude to DTI for helping their town mates improve their livelihood and the economy of the town in general. Alday noted that with the availability of the equipment, processors can now produce more and compete with other meat processors.

Ramirez meanwhile exhorted the cooperator and meat processors to take good care of the machines. She noted that with proper use and good maintenance, the equipment will be available to more producers and make the project more sustainable. She also said that DTI will assist them in product labeling, packaging and promotion to ensure the success of the project.