Senator Cynthia Villar on Sunday, March 17 expressed optimism President Marcos’ signing into law of Republic Act No. 11985 or An Act Strengthening and Revitalizing the Salt Industry in the Philippines will give “new life” to the country’s dying salt industry.
Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, thanked the Chief Executive for signing the bill into law, saying she believes that the law is an answered prayer for the sector’s many workers and stakeholders who have been appealing to revitalize the country’s dying salt industry.
In particular, RA 11985 will address the expansion of the current salt farms concentrated in Pangasinan and Mindoro.
Under the new law, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) are mandated to map out, identify, and designate public lands, including portions of municipal waters, as salt production areas within 60 days from the passage of this Act.
“Public land for salt production shall also be leased for a 25-year period, renewable for another 25 years, for use as salt farms,” Villar noted.
“For this purpose, BFAR shall issue the Salt Production Tenurial Instrument where cooperatives and associations of subsistence and small producers and farmers shall be given preferential treatment," she added.
With the new law, Villar also said all coastal communities will again be able to engage in salt production.
Villar pushed for the revival of the salt industry saying there is a necessity to meet the growing demand of Filipino household and the additional annual demand for 300,000 metric tons of salt as coconut fertilizer under the 2021 Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act.
She lamented that the country’s salt production accounts for only 16.782 percent or 114,000 metric tons of the 683,000 metric tons annual demand.
The new law also seeks the formulation of a Philippine Salt Industry Development Roadmap that will include programs, projects, and interventions for the development and management, research, processing, utilization, modernization, and commercialization of Philippine salt.
The new law also seeks the creation of the 16-member Philippine Salt Industry Development Council, headed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary.
“The Salt Industry Development Council, is tasked to ensure the unified and integrated implementation of the salt roadmap," the senator said.
Tariffs to be collected from imported salt will also be plowed back to the industry with the creation of the Salt Industry Development and Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (SIDCEF), according to Villar.
Under the law, 50 percent of the SIDCEF shall be earmarked for the provision of machinery and equipment, including sea water pumps, salt graders, salt harvesters, dump trucks and bagging machines, and salt iodization machines for beneficiaries who are into salt iodization; 40 percent for the establishment of salt farm warehouses/storage areas; five percent for the conduct of extension services and five percent for the development of modern salt production and processing technology.
According to Villar, the new salt industry law will also makes iodized, as well as artisanal salt optional in the country.
It also requires importers, traders, and distributors of imported food-grade salt that will undertake fortification to comply with the iodization standards set by the Department of Health (DOH).