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NEW WORLD MAKATI HOTEL, Makati City, September 21, 2026 (SDN) — A Muslim’s life revolves around two overriding concepts, “Halal” and “Haram”, which are anchored on the Shari’ah, or Islamic Law.

Of course, as many now know, including non-Muslims, “Halal” means “permissible”, “allowable”, or “lawful” in the eyes of the Shari’ah. “Haram” is the opposite, it refers to an action, substance, and behavior which under Islamic Law are strictly forbidden and sinful.

Simply said, according to religious leaders, Allah (God in Arabic) has commanded Muslims through the Qur’an to follow the Halal ways and avoid the ways of Haram — that is, enjoining good and forbidding evil.

Halal is good, Haram is evil. And these two terms govern Muslims’ life in many things: food and beverage, banking and finance, travel, tourism, hospitality, pharmaceutical, cosmetics & personal care, health and wellness, logistics, and then some.

Among all the above, it seems food is the most familiar, most discussed because everyone eats. When an Islam believer seeks food products in the market — supermarkets, groceries, sari-sari stores, restaurants — they look for goods stamped with the universal Halal Logo, a mark that should carry trust as its DNA. The manufacturer can be trusted, the Halal Certifying Body (HCB) can be trusted.

But there’s another aspect about food in relation with Halal. Say, the gustatory delights served by kitchen warriors in hotels or restaurants, the culinary aspect, and it concerns preparation, it concerns ingredients, it concerns the kitchen, it concerns the utensils, it concerns the handling, it concerns the chef, the one who cooks up the culinary magic that turns ordinary meat, fish, vegetables, ingredients, etc., into a work of delightful and delicious art! Just the sight makes you hungry already.

Not only that, manpower is in huge demand in the ever-expanding global Halal market, the Philippines included, in travel, tourism, hospitality sectors, and others, where the demand for Halal-trained kitchen warriors skilled on Muslim dietary processes far, far outweighs supply.

And that’s where culinary schools can come in, like the Philippines’ premier Center of Culinary Arts (CCA).

In fact, CCA Manila housed at the University of the Philippines (UP), Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Metro Manila, as announced by its Chancellor for Education Dr. Ma. Veritas F. Luna, RND, is offering a 16-day course, the “Fundamentals of Halal Culinary Arts“.

She made the announcement at the Philippine Halal Industry Summit (PHIS) 2026 in this five-star hotel on September 20, the event’s second and final day, as she discussed “Halal Cuisine and Culinary Excellence: Opportunities for the Philippine Food Industry“.

Apparently, the spark that lit the fire under the Halal Culinary Course is the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that CCA Manila signed with the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF).

Related story: NCMF and CCA Manila partnership for Halal Culinary Course

Dr. Luna said the two parties on August 10 signed the MOU to collaborate on the Halal-focused program, citing its significance.

“For us at CCA Manila, this is more than simply adding another course to our portfolio. It is a partnership in building human capability for the Philippine Halal food industry,” Dr. Luna emphasizes.

A flier about the offering that SDN – SciTech & Digital News received titled “The Future of Halal Culinary Excellence“, said the course is aimed at building “the skills and confidence to work in professional culinary kitchens through an intensive 16-day, 100-hour hands-on culinary program grounded in Halal principles.”

The highlights of the Halal course cover:

• Learning Halal from Foundation to Practice
• Training in a Professional Culinary Environment
• Mastering Asian and Global Cuisines
• Building Skills for Hotels, Restaurantss and Food Businesses
• 100 hours of Hands-on Culinary Training
• Earning a CCA Manila Certificate

Still from the flier, awaiting students of the Halal Culinary Course at CCA Manila are:

• Sessions 1-4 — Halal Foundations (Principles of Halal, Professional Cooking, Food Safety, Nutrition, Culinary Math)
• Sessions 5-7 — Professional Cooking Skills (Knife Skills, Cooking Methods, Kitchen Fundamentals)
• Sessions 8-12 — Asian Cuisines (Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Indian)
• Sessions 13-16 — Global Cuisines (Mediterranean, American, French, Italian)

With a limited slot, enrollment is now open at UP BGC (phone: 0920.221.3641, email: talktous@cca-manila.edu.ph).

Halal certification and culinary excellence are the keys to Halal economy

Halal principles shall become a part of the professional kitchen and help participants understand Halal ingredients, food preparation, handling, sanitation, prevention of cross-contamination, kitchen practices, with the most important being how these principles can be translated into quality culinary products and experiences.

“We believe that the Halal industry needs not only certification systems and standards, but also people who know how to apply those standards every day in the kitchen,” the CCA Manila Chancellor of Education says, adding that culinary education in this aspect can make meaningful contribution.

CCA Manila and NCMF’s MOU, Dr. Luna pointed out, is the culinary school’s “commitment to help bridge that gap — between Halal standards and culinary practice, between knowledge and skills, and ultimately between opportunity and enterprise.”

She described the MOU as “a landmark partnership on Investing in Human Capability.”

The CCA Chancellor for Education cited figures showing the huge opportunities for the Philippines to take a bite at the global Halal pie, particularly on developing a pool of skilled kitchen warriors.

Halal, she said, for the country’s food market means something bigger, like opportunity for Philippine food.

“It means trust. It means quality. It means discipline in our food systems. And it means new opportunities for Filipino farmers, food producers, chefs, restaurants, hotels, culinary schools, tourism enterprises and MSMEs.

“The Philippines has a very valuable asset to bring to the Halal market: our food,” Dr. Luna says.

She ticked off rice, coconut, seafood, fruits, vegetables, spices, coffee, cacao, and many more agricultural products.

In all this, as gleaned from her presentation at the Halal Industry Summit, she cited regional cuisines tied closely to Filipino history and culture, plus creativity of Filipinos.

“Imagine what happens when we bring these together with strong Halal integrity and professional culinary excellence. We can create Filipino Halal products that are not merely compliant — competitive, distinctive, and proudly Filipino,” the CCA Manila top executive says.

First, a local product from coconut, coffee, sauce, snack or processed food to support MSMEs.

Then, with right technical assistance, Halal compliance, food safety system, packaging, branding and market development, she added, the country’s small businesses has the potential to move from a local market to the national, then to the ASEAN.

“So the opportunity is real. But there is one important distinction: Halal certification opens the door. Culinary excellence helps as stay inside the room,” Dr. Luna points out.

To realize these opportunities, the chef and culinary professional’s role become very important, Dr. Luna emphasized, to achieve the five marks of “TRUE Halal Culinary Excellence! Something beautiful, delicious, nutritious, safe and culturally meaningful dish that meets Halal requirements.”

For this, the Halal industry requires “chefs who understand both the integrity of Halal — and the artistry of cuisine.”

PSA, TESDA figures show massive potential for Halal-trained workforce in tourism industries

She explains further what this means, which is understanding ingredients, sourcing, preparation and handling, preventing cross-contamination, understanding equipment and utensils, storage and food flow — and, equally important, understanding flavor, texture, presentation, nutrition, sustainability and the story behind food.

A new generation of culinary professionals are therefore required in the Philippine food industry, Dr. Luna, points out, the ones who can say with confidence, “I know how to cook delicious food — and I know how to cook it with Halal integrity.”

In relation with this, a new kind of workforce, such as Halal-trained chefs, is needed, and this does not only relates to educational aspiration because current workforce evidence in the global Halal market show the need is already here.

To prove her point, Dr. Luna cited figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that show 7.70 million people were hired in tourism industries in 2025, which represented 15.7 percent of the country’s total employment, and that within tourism industries, accommodation and food and beverage alone have a share of about 2.93 million jobs.

“That is a very large workforce — and behind those numbers are hotels, restaurants, catering businesses, tourism enterprises and food establishments that need skilled people,” she says.

Moreover, the CCA Manila top official noted, is the findings of TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) in its assessment of the tourism workforce.

“Looking at projected skills supply and hard-to-fill positions, 80 percent of the surveyed tourism enterprises identified Executive Chef positions as hard to fill. The figures were 75 percent for Banquet Head Cook/Chef and 75 percent for Chef,” Dr. Luna says.

“And there is an especially important signal for this Summit: Muslim-Friendly Production, or Halal Muslim food production, was identified as a 100-percent projected shortage among the responding tourism enterprises.”

Doubling down on this bullish assessments, she emphasized that when speaking about the need for trained Halal culinary professionals, it’s not just an assumption.

“We have a Philippine workforce signal pointing to it. Training Halal-certified culinary professionals is no longer a theoretical aspiration — it is an immediate, data-backed requirement to sustain Philippine tourism growth and satisfy international standards.”

Building bridges between Muslim and non-Muslim communities for Halal

As she concluded her presentation, Dr. Luna proposed three opportunities for the Halal industry, such as 1. Educate — by building the next generation of Halal culinary professionals, 2. Innovate — by developing Filipino Halal products, menus, and culinary experiences enabled through combining the nation’s culinary heritage with contemporary techniques, nutrition, sustainability and modern food business where Halal Filipino cuisine can transform into a distinctive Philippine culinary proposition, and 3. Connect — by linking Filipino talent and products to ASEAN and world markets.

“We can develop a Halal food industry that is: compliant — but also creative; competitive — but also inclusive; commercially successful — but also culturally meaningful.

“And perhaps, most importantly, we can show the world that Filipino culinary excellence and Halal integrity can come together beautifully,” she says with confidence.

Dr. Luna said this require preparing Filipino chefs, empowering MSMEs, strengthening farmers and food producers, as well as educating culinary students, and building bridges between Muslims and non-Muslim communities.

“And let us develop Filipino Halal cuisine that the Philippines — and the world — can be proud of.”

With the Ummah (global Muslim community), an estimated two billion consumers eager to pounce on anything that has the Halal mark, De Luna’s confidence on food-focused and culinary advocacy for the world market worth around $7 trillion must not fall on deaf ears, or the Philippines could be left behind eating everyone’s leftovers!– EDD K. USMAN / SDN

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Note: This story was updated with more details and information from Dr. Ma. Veritas F. Luna’s presentation.

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The author

EDD, a native of Sub-Saharan Africa Buluan/Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, BARMM, college at UST, is a Manila-based journalist for over 40 years (33 years with Manila Bulletin), has five Media Awards (1 with University of the Philippines (UP) 2017 Science Journalism Award), covered and traveled over 40 times abroad), has contributed to Rappler, Business Mirror, Manila Business Insights, Panorama Magazine, Agriculture Magazine, and others, former Manila-based Foreign Correspondent of Saudi Arabia newspapers Saudi Gazette and Riyadh Daily, and The Peninsula (Qatar newspaper), with 2008 East-West Center (EWC) Journalism Seminar in the United States, 2000 Executive IT Seminar in Seoul, South Korea, with three Silver Awards in Photography, writes Muslim and Current Affairs, Enterprise, Science, Tech, Products Launch, and virtually everything under Heaven. (®)