MANILA, Philippines -- British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's criticism of dog-eating in the Philippines drew a sharp reaction today from a Filipino politician who said Mrs. Thatcher should concern herself with Irish political prisoners.
In a published statement, assemblyman Eddie Ilarde said the slaughter of dogs for food was prohibited in most parts of the Philippines.
He said Filipinos are really as 'dog-loving' as the British.
'Mrs. Thatcher should not be disturbed by the way Filipinos treat dogs because the few of us who are sometimes cruel to these animals cannot be more cruel than even the British themselves, who have been cruel not only to animals but human beings in their colonies in the past,' Ilarde said.
'What Mrs. Thatcher should concern herself with in response to the abhorrence of the world is the arrogance of her government towards the political prisoners in Ireland, a number of whom have already died.'
A picture of a dog muzzled by wire with its front legs tied behind its back was published in the mass circulation Sunday Mirror Nov. 15.
The photo prompted member of parliament James Wellbeloved to urge Mrs. Thatcher to denounce to the Philippine government this 'barbaric cruelty' heaped on dogs before being slaughtered and eaten.
'I felt the same repugnance as you, and I am sure all members in this house would feel repugnance at that horrible photograph,' Mrs. Thatcher said Tuesday.
A British embassy spokesman said Britain's 'repugnance' was quietly passed on to the foreign ministry in Manila and the response was that it was an internal affair of the Philippines.
In some dog eating areas of the Philippines, particularly in the mountain resort of Baguio north of Manila, butchers slit the animal's throat after trying it up or just batter its head in.
'Dogs know that they are going to get killed and they can get wild,' a Baguio resident said. He said this was the reason why brutal methods were employed.
