2 solons push for revival of salt industry
AGRI Party-list Representative Wilbert Lee and Kabayan Party-list Representative Ron Salo filed separate measures both seeking to develop, modernize and protect the dying salt industry.
In Lee’s version, he is proposing the creation of a government body to craft a 5-year roadmap for the salt industry development.
House Bill No. 5676 or the Philippine Salt Industry Development bill provides for the establishment of the Philippine Salt Industry Development Task Force who shall be responsible for the formulation and implementation of the Philippine Salt Industry Development Roadmap which shall guide the development, expansion, and sustainable protection of our local salt production industry.
The roadmap shall include programs, projects and interventions for the development and management, research, processing, utilization, business development, and commercialization of Philippine salt.
“This bill seeks to lessen our reliance on imports by providing our local salt stakeholders with ample support and protection so they can develop. We recognize that this is a long-term task, that is why we need a roadmap that will take us step by step through the years. But we have to start now,” Lee said.
This measure allocates P1 billion for the purpose of Research and Development especially on salt production technology in the first 3 years of implementation.
For his part, Salo said HB 1976 recognizes that the Philippines imported around 93 percent of the country’s salt requirement despite having 36,000 kilometers of shoreline – the fifth longest shoreline in the world – which can be utilized for massive salt production.
Sali’s bill is a product of numerous consultations with various stakeholders – salt farmers, salt producers, and even representatives from government agencies.
Salo noted a number of factors which affected the country’s salt self-sufficiency, which included “an outdated policy regime, low quality control and product improvement, limited development of new production areas, unattractive business environment for small enterprises and lack of new investments.”
