Exceptional, very healthy, high quality-- these were the words that best described Siquijor’s native beef cattle as shown in the study conducted by the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB).
Recognizing the potential of its native beef cattle, the Siquijor province has sought the assistance of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to assist the beef processing facility for Catulayan Multi-purpose Cooperative.
“One thing that we are very proud of is the study conducted by UP Los Baños that the Siquijor native cattle has the exceptional beef quality that makes it very competitive with the rest of the best beef cattle in the world,” Siquijor Vice Governor Mei Ling Quezon-Brown said at the sidelines of the DOST Fortunato “Boy” T. de la Peña’s weekly report on Friday, May 21.
Citing the UPLB study, pesented by Dr. Agapita J. Salces, she said the native cattle population of Siquijor island is predominantly taurine by descent named as Bos taurus.
The study showed that Bos Taurus are known to have genes for marbling and milk production, Brown said. With this, Siquijor’s native cattle can also be exploited for good quality milk, she said.
The vice governor said their native cattle stands out because it is grass-fed, eating “the variety of herbs” which can only be found in Siquijor.
As her province received financial backing from the DOST for its native beef processing project, Brown assured de la Peña that they will boost their native cattle reproduction.
"Paparamihin muna namin ang native cattle namin Secretary para makapagproduce ng enough na meat (We will first reproduce our native cattle, Secretary, to produce enough meat),” she said.
"This is also in support of our tourism because that’s one thing that we are marketing our province as Healing Island. Iniisip namin na because of the variety of herbs na dito lang makikita Siquijor na pinapakain sa aming mga baka kaya sinasabi namin na yung mga beef namin is very healthy talaga kasi bang klase ang kinakaian nila, grass-fed sila, very healthy ang meat and high quality meat (We think that because of the variety of herbs that can only be found here in Siquijor that are being fed to our cattle so we're saying that our beef is really very healthy because they are grass-fed, very healthy meat and high quality meat),” Brown explained.
The UPLB study said Siquijor native cattle stands out as a distinct type due to its low genetic relationship with other native cattle in the country. "Because it is grass-fed cattle meat, it is not just premium and high quality beef but meat excellent for health," Salces said.
De la Peña noted that the native beef processing project is the latest collaboration between DOST VII and the provincial government of Siquijor.
Previous projects completed include a feed-milling project, a peanut production project, a chicken processing project, and the construction of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) building in Siquijor, he said.