Did you know that the Philippines is a major importer of salt, despite it being an archipelago?

This is big irony that Kabayan Party-list Rep. Ron Salo wants to address with House Bill No. 1976, which he has filed in the 19th Congress.

“The Philippines used to be salt self-sufficient. Today, it is a huge importer of salt. Import is estimated at around 550,000 metric tons of salt every year which constitutes around 93 percent of the country’s salt requirement," Salo said in a statement Friday, July 15.

"This is ironic considering that the Philippines has 36,000 kilometers of shoreline--the fifth longest shoreline in the world--which can be utilized for massive salt production,” noted the solon, who was a vice chairman of the House Committee on Public Information during the previous 18th Congress.

“Thus, unless the government undertakes immediate steps to address this sad state of the salt industry, the Philippines will soon be completely dependent on imported salt,” he stressed.   

“In all this, we also need to ask ourselves, where are now the salt farmers and their families who had long been dependent on salt production for their livelihood?” Salo said.

At the core of the Salo's measure is the pursuit of a comprehensive plan for the development of the local salt industry and the grant of incentives to salt farmers and exporters.

To ensure the successful implementation of the law, an inter-agency body to be called ASInDeRO, or the Administration for Salt Industry Development, Revitalization and Optimization, shall be established.

It shall be co-headed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), with members from executive agencies concerned, and shall engage with relevant industry stakeholders.

The proposed measure seeks to promote indigenous salt-making technology, just as it seeks to harness current technological advances in salt-making. It also protects artisanal salt farmers by providing avenues where they will be able to market their products, including un-iodized salt.

Salo said that, when passed into law, HB No. 1976 not only aims to revitalize the local salt industry, but it also seeks to attain increased income for salt farmers and salt producers.

This would allow the country to achieve salt self-sufficiency and become a net exporter of salt, he said.