THE Fiqh and Halal Council of the Philippines finally opened its Cagayan de Oro office last July 16 to cater to MSMEs which want to be halal-certified.
With a Muslim population of ten million nationwide, food businesses can easily corner this huge market of domestic visitors (tourists and transactional alike) and locals if their respective establishments are already halal-certified.
Fiqh and Halal Council of the Philippines founding chairman Faisal Benaning Bansao said that business owners here do not need to go to Cotabato City to have their enterprises certified.
“To apply for certification, the first step is obviously a letter of intent. Then you have to submit three samples of your product for laboratory testing, as well as samples of the raw materials and ingredients used in your product. You will then wait for the halal auditing team to go to your premises,” Bansao said, emphasizing that it will only take three weeks for an applying business to get certification.
Bansao said the auditing team will look at the cleanliness of the premises as well as the procedures in preparing their food.
“There must be no cross contamination, their must be no harmful chemicals and the kitchen itself must be halal,” he added.
The first restaurant in the city certified by the Fiqh and Halal Council of the Philippines is Zubaibai which is located at SM CDO Downtown.
Its owners testified that the certification has already multiplied its dining customers in their seafood resto.
Oro Chamber president Almarco Brito also hailed the opening of the new Fiqh and Halal Council of the Philippines office here, saying it would encourage more food businesses to get certification without the hassle of going to Cotabato City.
For interested businesses, the Fiqh and Halal Council of the Philippines is located inside the Oro Chamber building along Pedro N. Roa Senior Avenue (formerly Macapagal Drive) in uptown Cagayan de Oro City. They are open during office hours from Monday to Friday.
The Fiqh and Halal Council of the Philippines is an NGO that aims to achieve religious diversity and inclusion through Islamic education, halal awareness programs and halal certification. It was founded in 2016 and has catered to numerous businesses in the Philippines ever since.
