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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, 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 in hotels or restaurants, the culinary aspect, and it concerns preparation, it concerns ingridients, 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, in travel, tourism, hospitality sectors, and others, where the demand for Halal-trained kitchen warriors skilled on Muslim dietary process 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).

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 principles shall become a part of the professional kitchen and help participants understand Halal ingridieningredients, food preparation, handling, sanitation, prevention of cross-contamination, kitchen practices, with the most important being hhow 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 Halal pie, particularly by developing a pool of skilled kitchen warriors.
— EDD K. USMAN / SDN

Note: This story will be updated later on with more 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. (®)