Senator Cynthia A. Villar on Tuesday sought to declare Davao City as the "Chocolate Capital of the Philippines," and Region XI (Davao Region) as the “Cacao Capital of the Philippines.”
In her sponsorship speech on Senate Bill 1741, Villar said Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data indicated that the biggest bulk of the country’s annual cacao production came from Davao Region.
Senator Ronald ‘’Bato’’ dela Rosa, a native of the Davao region, also delivered a sponsorship speech on the same issue.
PSA data show that approximately 78.76 percent of annual production of cacao in the Philippines comes from the Davao region composed of Davao del Sur, Davao City, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, and Davao de Oro and Davao Occidental.
They are the top five producers in terms of volume of production.
Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, said there are more than 20,000 hectares of cacao farms in Davao Region, and Davao City, among the five provinces, has the largest area.
Villar’s bill seeks to recognize Davao "as the country's biggest producer of cacao and its vital contribution in making the Philippines world-renowned and sought after by chocolate makers."
The bill also hopes to make Davao City and Davao region become inspiration and benchmark to motivate other local government units (LGUs) to emulate.
According to Villar, her bill simply gives recognition for the pioneering, outstanding collective contribution of the cacao farmers who supply dry cacao beans to the processors and manufacturers.
These cacao farmers, Villar said, have received international acknowledgment as evidenced by the awards they got over the years.
She emphasized that Davao’s Malagos Chocolate is one of the frontline brands of the Philippines in the international market.
Malagos chocolates, Villar said, has made it to the list of the “Best 50 Beans in the World” under the Cocoa Excellence Programme in 2017.
To date, she said Malagos Chocolates has won 28 International awards. The chocolate, which was commercially launched in June 2013, is made from the ethically grown and processed cacao beans that have been carefully graded, fermented and solar-dried in the Puentespina Cacao Farm in Malagos, Baguio District, Davao City.
Another multi-awarded brand is Auro Chocolates, which takes pride for its bean-to-bar process since they have cacao beans that are fully traceable in planting communities in the Philippines. The fine cacao and chocolate were directly sourced beans from Davao farming partners.
Its commitment to quality has earned it 23 international awards including the Top 20 Best Cacao Beans Award—a first for the Philippines—in the International Cocoa Awards (ICA).
But amid all the challenges the cocoa sector is facing particularly the formidable upstream segments of the value chain, Villar said the Davao City government has allocated financial support to the cacao industry by opening the “Cacao City” at the Pasalubong Center in 2017.