Although it has a shoreline of 36,000 kilometers, the Philippines imports 93 percent or 550,000 metric tons of salt for its requirement.
“We should look at the salt industry as an added income source to fishermen during the dry season and the possibility of exporting Philippine sea salt,” Senator Cynthia A. Villar said during the public hearing by her Senate agriculture committee on two bills and one resolution relating to the ‘sickly’ salt industry.
These measures are Senate Bill Numbers 1334 and 1450, known as the Philippine Salt Industry Development and Revitalization Act, and Senate Resolution 211, or the Salt Supply and Importation.
The Philippines, an archipelago, has to make available17,000 hectares more for salt making to be able to fill up its salt requirement. At present it has 2,000 hectares devoted to salt making, it was learned.
In her statement, Villar said the law on iodization, instead of promoting the local salt industry, became a deterrent in its development.
‘’It has neglected to develop new areas and invite new investors. The Philippines only needs a small percentage of salt for human and animal consumption but it has other non-food uses. There should be a balance between all these needs such as for the preservation of fish catch and as fertilizer for our coconut industry,” Villar stated in her bill.
Both Villar and Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva did not mince words when they openly criticized some of the resource persons for not being ready to make a position of their agencies on the issues involved.
"It’s really disappointing especially how these resource persons from the different government agencies would conduct themselves during Senate hearings," Villanueva said.
"We should call on our PLLO (Presidential Legislative Liaison Office) Secretary (Mark) Mendoza to assess and evaluate these government representatives," he stressed.
"Akala yata resort lounge ang committee hearings ng Senado (They appear as if they are at the Senate Lounge),’’ he added.
Villar asked aloud why the Department of Agriculture (DA) is not interested in salt which is considered food.
She later berated by the DA and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for "finger pointing" on the issuance of permits for the use of land for salt making.
It appears that nobody knows about the salt industry although the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) gives permit for the importation of iodised salt, she said.
But importers of salt get their import permit from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for shipments from Australia and China.
Villar noted that there is activity in government agencies when there is importation but there is weak response on matters of development.
"It is insanity," Villar said in exasperation .
Villanueva said the country's salt industry is dwarfed by the salt production importation from neighboring countries with much smaller shorelines.
"Unfortunately, we have not made full use of the resources that we have and the salt industry has consistently been in decline. It baffles me that the Philippines, an agricultural country with shorelines that stretches for thousands of kilometers, would import 93 percent of our total salt requirements. This is very disheartening," Villanueva said.
The majority leader also expressed hope that the committee would pass his bill, Senate Bill No. 1450, known as the Salt Industry Development and Revitalization Act, to help revive the industry and support local salt businesses.
"We have an enormous untapped and neglected resource that can change the lives of about 60 percent of our population who lives in coastline zones," Villanueva emphasized.