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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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First Regular Session 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Muslims use two major terns to describe food: HaZaZ and Haram. Hula1 is an Arabic 
word which means permitted or lawful. There are no restrictions on consumption or use of Hula1 
food. Havam is an Arabic word which means forbidden or unlawful. There are prohibitions on 
consumption and use of Haram food. Other terms used are makvooh, mashbooh and dhabiha. 
Malcrooh is an Arabic word meaning ‘religiously discouraged’ or ‘disliked’. It covers any food 
and liquid which are disguised or harmful to the body. Mashbooh is also Arabic word meaning 
‘suspected’. It covers the gray area between Hula1 and Haram. Dhabiha is another Arabic word 
meaning ‘slaughtered’ according to Islamic method.’ 
Muslim dietary law is clear. As outlined in the Qur’an, Muslims are forbidden from 
consuming pork, alcohol, blood, meat dedicated to false gods. It is easy to avoid these basic 
ingredients, but what about when the ingredients are disguised as something else? Modem food 
production allows manufacturers to start out with one basic product, then cook it, boil it, and 
process it, until they can call it something else. However, if its original sonrce was a forbidden 
food, then it is still forbidden to Muslims? 
Today’s manufacturing and food production has made it difficult to know what goes into 
the food people eat. Food labeling is the first step, but noteverything that is used in food 
manufacturing and production is listed. In other instances, what is listed is unknown or 
unfamiliar to the consumers. Most Muslims, for example, know to look out for pork, alcohol, and 
gelatin. But can we eat products that contain ingredients such as glycerol stearate? 
I http://\r?vw.icbcs.org/RalaI.hrm 
’ http:llislam.about.com/cs/dieta~lawl~alalfood.litm 


This bill seeks to promote the welfare of our Muslim brothers and their need for 
Islamically permissible food by regulating the advertisement, packaging, labeling, display, sale, 
preparation, and serving of halal food.3 
This bill was originally filed during the Thirteenth Congress, Third Regular Session. 
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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE mpumrc) 
First Regular Session 
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OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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7 [j[;-f 16 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
REGULATING THE ADVERTISEMENT, PACKAGING, LABELING, DISPLAY, SALE, 
PREPARATION. AND SERVING OF HALAL FOOD 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assem bled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Halal Food Act of 2007.” 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to promote the general 
welfare of the people. Pursuant to this policy, this Act shall regulate the advertisement, 
packaging, labeling, display, sale, preparation, and serving of halal food. 
SECTION 3. Dejkition of Terms. -For purposes of this Act, the term: 
(A)“Advertise” means to engage in promotional activities including, but not limited to, 
newspaper, radio, Internet and electronic media, and television advertising; the 
distribution of fliers and circulars; and the display of window and interior signs. 
(B)“Food”, “food product”, or “food commodity” means any food or food product 
inspected as required by law, or any food preparation from a source approved by the 
Department of Agriculture, whether raw or prepared for human consumption, and 
whether in a solid or liquid state, including, but not limited to, any meat, meat product 
or meat preparation; any milk, milk product or milk preparation; and any beverage. 
(C) “Food commodity in package form” means a food commodity put up or packaged in 
any manner in advance of sale in units suitable for retail sale and which is not 
intended for consumption at the point of manufacture. 
(D)“Halal” means prepared under and maintained in strict compliance with the laws and 
customs of the Islamic religion including but not limited to those laws and customs of 
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zabihdzabeeha (slaughtered according to appropriate Islamic code), and as expressed 
by reliable recognized Islaniic entities and scholars. 
SECTION 4. Prohibited Acts. - It shall be unlawful for any person to make any oral or 
written statement that directly or indirectly tends to deceive or otherwise lead a reasonable 
individual to believe that a non-halal food or food product is halal. 
The presence of any non-halal food or food product in any place of business that 
advertises or represents itself in any manner as selling, offering for sale, preparing, or serving 
halal food or food products only, is presumptive evidence that the person in possession offers the 
food or food product for sale under this Section. 
It shall likewise be unlawful for any person to: 
(A)Falsely represent any animal sold, grown, or o€fered for sale to be grown in a halal 
way to become food for human consumption; 
(B) Falsely represent any food sold, prepared, served, or offered for sale to be halal; 
(C)Remove or destroy, or cause to be removed or destroyed, the original means of 
identification affixed to food commodities to indicate that the food commodities are 
halal, except that this paragraph may not be construed to prevent the removal of the 
identification if the commodity is offered for sale as non-halal; 
(D) Sell, dispose of, or have in his or her possession for the purpose of resale as halal any 
food commodity to which an animals’ farm or slaughterhouse mark, stamp, tag, 
brand, label, or other means of identification has been fraudulently attached; 
(E) Label or identify a food commodity in package form to be halal or possess such labels 
or means of identification, unless he or she is the manufacturer or packer of the food 
commodity in package form; 
(F) Label or identify an article of food not in package form to be halal or possess such 
labels or other means of identification, unless he or she is the manufacturer of the 
article of food; 
(G)Falsely label any food commodity in package form as halal by having or permitting to 
be inscribed on it, in any language, the words “halal” or “helal”, or any other words 
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or symbols, not limited to characters in Arabic writing, which would tend to deceive 
or otherwise lead a reasonable individual to believe that the commodity is halal; 
(H)Sell, offer for sale, prepare, or serve in or from the same place of business both 
unpackaged non-halal food and unpackaged food he or she represents to be halal 
unless he or she posts a window sign at the entrance of his or her establishment which 
states in block letters at least four (4) inches in height: “Halal and Nou-Halal Foods 
Sold Here”, or “Halal and Non-Halal Foods Served Here”, or a statement of similar 
import; 
(I) Sell or have in his or her possession for the purpose of resale as halal any food 
commodity not having affixed thereto the original animals’ farm or slaughterhouse 
mark, stamp, tag, brand, label, or other means of identification employed to indicate 
that the food commodity is halal; or 
(J) Display for sale, in the same show window or other location on or in his or her place 
of business, both unpackaged food represented to be halal and unpackaged non-halal 
food unless he or she: 
(1) Displays over the halal and non-halal food signs that read, in clearly visible 
block letters, “halal food” and “non-halal food”, respectively, or, as to the 
display of meat alone, “halal meat” and “non-halal meat”, respectively; 
(2) Separates the halal food products from the non-halal food products by keeping 
the products in separate display cabinets, or by segregating halal items from 
non-halal items by use of clearly visible dividers; and 
(3) Slices or otherwise prepares the halal food products for sale with utensils used 
solely for halal food items. 
SECTION 5. Penalties. -Any establishment found guilty of violating Section 4 shall be 
fined an amount not more than One Hundred Thousand Pesos (PlO0,OOO.OO). 
In addition, a penalty of imprisonment of arrest0 mayor may be imposed on the entity’s 
responsible officers, including, but not limited to, the president, vice-president, chief executive 
officer, general manager, managing director or officer directly responsible therefore, if any of 
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them are found to have knowingly consented to such sale or possession with intent to sell for 
human consumption any food which has not been processed, transported, or sold in compliance 
with the provisions of this Act and the rules and regulations adopted in accordance with this Act. 
In both in cases, the court shall take into consideration all attending circumstances. 
SECTION 6. Defenses Available. - It shall be a complete defense to prosecution for an 
offense under Section 4 that the defendant relied in good faith upon the representations of an 
animals' f m ,  slaughterhouse, manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor, or any person 
SECTION 7. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof, is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain 
valid and subsisting. 
SECTION 8. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive 
order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to or inconsistent 
with the provisions of this act is hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly. 
SECTION 9. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
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Approved, 
Irgs 
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