City of Malolos, Bulacan- THE only comment we’ve heard from the participants and guest in the recently concluded International Event held in this city and in this province titled FREE HALAL 101 SEMINAR FOR NON MUSLIM MSMEs organized by diaryong tagalog and DZMJ Online was a major success for the tagalog ummah.
Organized by Mary Jane Balaguer (Maryam Jannah Binti Ismail) of DZMJ Online (www.dzmjonline.net0 and Abdul Malik Bin Ismail (Michael Balaguer) of Diaryong Tagalog (www.diaryongtagalog.net), Muslim Journalist and event organizers, it aims to get the non-muslim majority in the tagalog region to embrace the possibility of incorporating Halal practices to their lines of business, in a nutshell all business can be certified as Halal provided it passes the standards and regulations set by the local certifiers duly recognized by the government (National Commission on Muslim Filipinos [NCMF], Department of Trade and Industry [DTI] and the Department of Science and Technology {DOST] ) to be at par with international Halal industry.
The venue is courtesy of Malolos City Mayor Christian Natividad for him to have abroad perspective of Halal that would fit his city to be more accommodating and friendly due to the growing influx of Muslim foreigners and Mindanaoans who consider his city as their home away from home and an acknowledgement to the existence of the tagalog ummah (muslim family) which are the native bulakenyo. Atty Natividad’s opening statement mark the start of a long standing business relationship rooted in history and culture as he’s being represented by this Chief of Staff, Mr Fernado Durupa.
While in the welcoming statement of Bulacan Governor Daniel R Fernando as represented by Ms. Rochelle Cruz of the Governors office he thanks the organizers for the opportunity given to the province in enlightening the local non-muslim business sector to embrace Halal also in a bid to make a disclaimer that Halal isn’t only for Muslims instead its for everybody and with it, Bulacan can partake on the opportunities instore for all.
The largest Muslim population enticed the province on the possibilities of incorporating Halal in all their business, invited and personally graced the said seminar was non other than H.E. Agus Widjojo, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Philippines from the Republic talking more about the Indonesian experience in Halal and how his countrymen is spreading their products and services to the broader ASEAN ) Association of South East Asian Nations) market including the Philippines particularly in this city and in this province.
The Arab Republic of Egypt is a Muslim country with a rich and diverse Halal market not just in the basics like food and Pharma also included are modest fashion and entertainment thus the representative of H. E Nader Zaki, the Ambassador from the Arab Republic of Egypt represented by his Deputy Chief of Missions Ahmed Hany invites the participants to explore Halal business with Egypt and like Indonesia it has a lot of things to offer in regard to Halal
The Department of Science and Technology Region 3 in their Bulacan Provincial Science and Technology Office headed by their Director Angelita Parungao sent Mr Michael Carlo Mariano to discuss the Halal programs of the science department regional and provincial office to cater to growing Halal ecosystem in the region particularly in the province for which the 2025 Regional Science and Technology Week will be Held
Malaysia chairs the 2025 ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) 10 countries in the region so the Malaysia Ambassador H.E Dato Melvin Castelino Bin Anthony and his staff are quite busy in ASEAN related endeavors but they didn’t forget Halal, and since Indonesia has the largest Muslim population and Egypt is an Islamic country, Malaysia has the most successful Halal ecosystem and according to the talk of Adhwa Azmil, the Acting Trade Attache of the Embassy of Malaysia in Manila they want to help in getting the MSME’s to take that first step with their business being Halal. Also present were Vietnamese-American speaker from New U Life and SomaDerm Mr. Nam Dam filling in for Dr. Susan Barlin who talked about hormone health.
