20/04/2024
The QUESTION on Halal Issue in the Philippines.
Do not sell just a Halal* Logo. (Part 1)
It is not a typical Muslim the one who cannot be tricked by the Halal logo decal in the restaurant. The Muslims who are halal conscious might ask these questions to the waiter before he decide to eat in a restaurant, is the Halal Logo real? Which Muslim Organization issued it? Is the Muslim organization accredited by the Philippines Accreditation Board on Halal? With this scenario, the waiter/waitress who have no knowledge about Halal get confuse. It happens to me many times few years back, when I was actively involved in the Halal Industry campaign in Zamboanga Peninsula.
Honestly speaking, for a single Muslim who wish to travel outside his/her city or territory one thing he/she would know about is the availability of Certified Halal Restaurants in the place. He/she does care about it, because Islam prohibits eating Haram or forbidden food.
In the global context, a city that has a lot of Halal Certified restaurants like Tokyo will be easier for Muslim tourists to visit to. The city of Tokyo – even only more than ten thousand Muslims living there (as of 2019) – has plenty of registered Halal Certified restaurants found in Google maps. We were amazed then even in the Sophia University serves Halal food. Most of the restaurant operators are mainly coming from Muslim countries.
In the Philippines, one of the major problems commonly experience by the Muslim tourist coming to Philippines is lacking Halal certified restaurant. In the NAIA 3, before pandemic, there was a Halal Certified Resto available. Unfortunately, after the Pandemic, no more Halal Restaurant operating there. In the Google Map in Manila there are few Halal Restaurants located in Malate and other areas. But for the tourists who only stopover at the airport for few hours would experience difficulty to look for Halal food in the airport.
Halal is not about with the absence of pork, alcohol and other prohibited food clearly laid down by the Islamic law. A restaurant that has Halal decals does not imply it is certified. In the City of Zamboanga for example, there are many restaurants owned by Muslims and Non-Muslims alike sticking plain Halal Logo in their business just to attract Muslim customers. Others are just sticking “No Pork” on the wall, to give signal to Muslim customers that their restaurant serves food that can be consumed by Muslim or Muslim friendly.
Of course, to get a Halal logo is not that simple. To get a legit Halal logo a restaurant must pass through a detailed inspection by the accredited Halal certifier. Some of the important parts of the restaurant to be inspected are the kitchen, utensils, storage, toilet and praying room. The other important things that need to be verified are the supply of chicken, meat, vegetable and ingredients. Once the supply of raw materials is doubtful (means not Halal certified) the Halal certifier would recommend to get the Halal supply from such and such halal certified farm. After the stern inspection, the owner of the restaurant has to pay certain amounts to the Halal Certifier upon issuance of the Halal Logo. After the issuance, the Halal certifier auditor duty is to conduct quarterly monitoring to ensure that the restaurant is maintaining the Halal standard.
Now you know, then do not sell us just a halal logo. Serve us the food which is 100% halal.
The Halal issue in the Philippines should be regarded as challenge to the Muslims. The well-off Muslims in the Philippines should do something to establish more Halal food and resto anywhere in the Philippines. There are many Muslim entrepreneur and restaurant owners in Mindanao. Hopefully in the future, most of the airports in the Philippines have certified Halal Restaurants.
One of these days we will inspect if there are restaurants in Zamboanga City that truly have Halal Certification from the Accredited Halal Certifier.
We should take note that a Halal Certifier is not a group of the Muslim scholars. Instead, a Halal certifier has a Shariah Scholar, Nutritionist or Food Technologist, Chemist, biologist and others. It is a registered organization focus solely on the Halal issues.
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* Halal literally means "permissible" in Arabic and refers to goods, including food items and services that are permissible to be consumed or availed under Sharia law, whereas haram (lit. "unlawful") refers to goods that are forbidden to be consumed or availed. The Philippines despite being a Christian-majority country has a state-sanctioned program to facilitate halal certification of goods under the Halal Act of 2016.
