PANGASINAN will lead in the effort to make the Philippines self-sufficient in salt.

This is how Gov. Ramon Guico III envisioned Pangasinan’s mission in addressing the impending shortage in salt supply in the country in his State of the Province Address on March 27 in Lingayen.

“The revitalization of the salt industry in Pangasinan is our distinct contribution to the national discussion on national self–sufficiency,” he said.

“After all, this is our distinctive identity – Pangasinan literally means “Pang ASIN – an” or “Panag ASIN nan – which means “where salt is made,” he added.

He cited data from the  Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food that 93% of the country’s salt consumption is imported, and only 7% is produced in the Philippines and yet the country is “blessed with salt water surrounding our Philippine archipelago.”?

He said the Foreshore Lease Agreement of Pacific Farms, the second largest salt farm in the country, with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had expired in 2002 , and the province has since taken over its operations in Bolinao, through a production – sharing Memorandum of Agreement with the DENR.

“The burden of going up to the next level is now upon our shoulders,” he intoned.

“We have to begin salt production by October and then we have to work right now to do that,” he said as he recalled that the municipalities of San Fabian, Mangaldan, Alaminos City, Dasol, Bolinao and Bani are all salt–making municipalities in Pangasinan.

“We will provide thousands of jobs to Pangasinenses,” he added.

Guico also said a proposal to create the “Pangasinan Salt Center” in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan was already passed in the first reading.

He said this is “an entity to manage our salt farms, to take care of the salt industry and the salt industry stakeholders in the province”.

“It will do research. It will do a lot of things for the sake of asin,” he added. (Eva Visperas)

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments