SALT comes from the sea, and the Philippine archipelago commands over 36,000 kilometers of shore — the fifth longest shoreline in the world — and yet Filipinos have to import salt for their basic requirements.
Why is this so?
There are many questions begging to be asked about how the government and the private sector succeeded in putting the salt industry to the throes of death rather than working for it to survive and even flourish to provide thousands of jobs for residents in our fishing communities.
Rep. Mark Enverga’s revelation that the country imports around 93 percent of its salt needs puts this commodity in the league of sugar, garlic, onion, rice, wheat, corn and soybean meal — goods and food items that we have to import because our agriculture cannot produce them even in the volume that we need for consumption. Previously, the country imported only 15% of its salt needs, with 85% produced by local salt farmers.
‘The senator said the law, which sought to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders, had “the unintended effect of killing the local salt industry, as small and medium salt farmers were unable to comply with the iodization requirements.”’
Rep. Wilbert Lee seeks a long-term legislative solution in his Philippine salt industry development task force that will produce a five-year road map for the development, modernization and protection of the industry, but like other proposals, this seems good only on paper and will require a long time in gestation, much less in implementation.
Sen. Imee Marcos has an out-of-the-box solution — remove the iodization requirement for locally produced salt, as proposed in her bill.
“Local salt producers will now be able to access assistance provided under the ASIN (An Act for Salt lodization Nationwide) Law without the requirement for iodization, giving the industry much needed technology transfer, capital, and support services,” Senator Marcos said in the explanatory note of Senate Bill 1718.
The measure seeks to amend Republic Act 8172 or the ASIN law to encourage rather than require producers to iodize the salt they produce, manufacture, import, trade or distribute.
The senator said the law, which sought to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders, had “the unintended effect of killing the local salt industry, as small and medium salt farmers were unable to comply with the iodization requirements.” The requirement for iodization is a significant barrier for salt producers to access both market and government funding.
The senator added that salt import is expected to further increase due to the passage of Republic Act 1024, or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act, as it will create an additional demand of at least 300,000 metric tons (MT) of salt per year to fertilize coconut farms.
The Bureau of Fish and Aquatic Resources of the Department of Agriculture, which is headed by the senator’s brother President Bongbong Marcos, also has not used its P100-million budget from 2021 to revive salt production.
Clearly, a concerted move from both Congress and the executive department should somehow alleviate the problem of short supply of salt.
