The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Regional Office No.11 (DOST-XI), in partnership with the Philippine Women’s College (PWC) in Davao City, is set to launch the first Halal Kitchen in the country, which will serve as an innovation, research center, and demonstration site for Halal industry.
According to Mayan Jane J. Inni, Assistant Regional Director for DOST-XI, the agency saw that there is still a gap in promoting Halal and tourism, despite the past initiatives they have conducted like the Halal Verification and Laboratory and the research and development (R&D) component, where they also partnered with different higher education institutions (HEIs) and state universities and colleges (SUCs).
“The problem is we have very few halal-certified hotels and restaurants here in Davao. Recognizing that Davao is the potential hub or location for events like this in Mindanao and the Southern part of the country becomes a limitation for us. So that’s why through this partnership, we established the halal kitchen facility at PWC to provide the innovation and research center for the industry to know more and learn more and to adapt Halal and the provision of services especially for tourism and education,” Inni said.
According to Dr. Aristotle P. Carandang, Dean of PWC, halal is a multi-billion industry and is now being looked at as a potential income-generating sector of the Philippines.
“Well definitely, it will cater to the rest of the Philippines. But as to whether it’s the first in the Philippines, I think it is because DOST is pioneering efforts to promote and provide answers to the problems of halal sectors. We started with the R&D, with the laboratory, and now with services. So, I think that’s true that the Davao Region Halal kitchen is the novel and the first in the Philippines”, Inni said.
“This year, I’m happy because it’s going to be operational, and we’re just going to do some government registration work, and the training for trainers is already been lined up and this is now under my watch”, Dr. Carandang said.
He added that the halal training and instruction services will also be included in the PWC’s curriculum to capacitate more professionals, especially tourism students.
Once operational, the DOST-XI will provide experts and resource speakers for the requests for orientation and training.
The facility was inaugurated in August 2023, for the installation of equipment needed for the training. It was funded by the DOST-XI and the DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development.
The facility was introduced to the participants of the Science Journo Ako (SJA), a science journalism seminar-workshop conducted in Davao City on 10-11 July 2024, organized by the DOST-Science and Technology Information Institute.
The activity was attended by 54 junior and senior high school students and teachers from 15 schools in the Davao region.