To complement his administration’s aim to promote rural development and increase income in rural households, President Marcos signed into law the “Philippine Salt Industry Development Act.”
President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. delivers his speech at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City upon his arrival on Saturday, March 16, 2024 from his working and state visits to Germany and Czech Republic, respectively. (Noel Pabalate | MANILA BULLETIN)
The 23-page law, which was signed last March 11, will strengthen and revitalize the country’s salt industry through the provision of appropriate technology and research, and adequate financial, production, marketing and other support services to salt farmers.
A statement from the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said that doing so will not only revitalize the country’s salt industry, but it will also increase production, achieve salt sufficiency, and transform the Philippines as the “next exporter” of salt.
“It is further the policy of the State to preserve, protect, and rehabilitate the natural environment in the actualization of its developmental policies,” the law stated.
To ensure the fulfillment of the law’s objectives, a Philippine Salt Industry Development Roadmap and a Salt Council will be established.
The roadmap will ensure that the new law is aligned to the objectives of Republic Act No. 8172, or “An Act for Salt Iodization Nationwide (ASIN), while the Salt Council will “ensure the unified and integrated implementation of the salt roadmap and accelerate the modernization and industrialization of the Philippine salt industry chaired by the Department of Agriculture (DA).”
The Salt Council will have the secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as its vice-chairperson, while the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) will select representatives from the cooperatives from the nominees from different regions—five from Luzon and three from Visayas and Mindanao.
The functions of the Salt Council are detailed in the complete copy of the law, which is published on the Official Gazette. There are also provisions for the creation of a Program Management Office (PMO) and Salt as an Aquatic Resource Product.
The law will take effect 15 days after its complete publication in the Official Gazette, or in two newspapers of general circulation.