AN American acquaintance who is here in the Philippines to assess the huge export potential of ube (purple yam) is wondering why the country still imports significant amounts of fish from the United States given the fact that we have a longer coastline.
I told her that the observation does not fully illustrate the tragic state of the Philippine agri-fishery sector. The worst case that one can probably think of is our salt industry.
Official statistics reveal that the country imports around 93 percent of its salt requirements. This is despite the fact that we are an archipelagic country of more than 7,000 islands.
There are more than 10,000 recorded uses of salt. In the olden times, it was mainly used as a food preservative and a flavor enhancement. It is also used in chemical manufacturing, other food applications, water softening, animal and plant nutrition, and even as medicine.
Needing to import almost all of the country’s salt needs is an extraordinary indictment of those in charge of planning food security. But of course this is the Philippines, which is an exception to what is economically decent given political leaders whose careers are built on maintaining themselves in power.
My interest in this “salty” issue led me to visit the office of the biggest salt producer in the country, Salinas Food Inc. (SLI), located in the Quezon City area. The company is a family-run operation headed by patriarch Johnny Khongun. Their major salt production operation is in a 500-hectare property in Bolinao, Pangasinan.
An amiable and gentle man in his early 80s, Johnny informed me that the word “salinas” was derived from the Latin word “salinae,” which means salt works or ponds. It was obvious to me that Johnny, being a religious man, chose the word salt not just because his company is engaged in salt making but in reference to Jesus’ admonition to his followers that “they should be the salt of the earth.”
SLI replaced the company’s old name, Pacific Farms, which was established in 1958. Prior to the 1990s, the firm was mainly engaged in the production and distribution of salt. However, with the realization among legislators that ordinary Filipinos were suffering from serious iodine deficiency disorders (or “hidden hunger”), they enacted the Asin Law or Republic Act 8172 in 1995.
This law stipulated that the appropriate level of iodine must added to salt in order to help address a micronutrient problem. All salt producers in the country were required to comply with this law. Some quarters argue that this partly contributed to the demise of the local salt-making industry because small salt producers cannot comply. Concomitantly, government also allowed the entry of cheap imported salt, which practically dealt the final death blow to the small salt producers.
SLI did comply and was very active in the advocacy and implementation of the Asin Law. It also transformed itself from a salt-producing and distributing entity to a salt technology firm. It produced various salt-based products from the pioneering Fidel brand (iodized salt) to a host of commodities using SLI salt in the production of fish sauce (patis) of different types, food flavorings, cattle feed, salt to enhance coconut productivity and even medicinal items (hand cleaner, moisturizer, nasal sprays, etc.).
It continues its advocacy of addressing iodine deficiency in remote and poor areas by dispatching its ThyroMobile medical missions.
SLI is currently supporting the government’s nutrition-enhancement drive targeting pregnant women, kids zero to five years old and elementary school children. It has formulated a meal pack, wrapped in banana leaves, that meets the daily nutritional requirement of ordinary Filipinos, particularly children.
Citing former Health secretary Juan Flavier, Johnny told me that if Filipinos set aside a few centavos to buy two grams of salt annually, it can potentially create 100,000 jobs among fisherfolk.
SLI supports various health and nutrition-related programs of the government. Besides the Asin Law, these are RA 11985 (Philippine Salt Industry Development Act), RA 11148 (First 1,000 Days Law), RA 11981 (Tatak Pinoy) and a series of laws pertaining to and supportive of the Senior Citizens Act (RAs 7432, 7876, 9994 and 9257).
Johnny also identified the top 10 provinces and the length of their shorelines where the local salt industry can easily expand: Palawan (1,354 kilometers), Mindoro Occidental (300 kms), Pangasinan (285 kms), Bataan (188 kms), Marinduque (161 kms), Ilocos Sur (157 kms), Ilocos Norte (150 kms), Antique (115 kms), La Union (114 kms) and Zambales (110 kms).
Just like the Sagip Saka Act, which aimed to assist the small farmers to increase their income and improve their overall socioeconomic well-being, we are not short of well-meaning laws and measures that aim to develop the local salt industry. What we do not have are dedicated politicians and civil servants, working in tandem with the private sector, that can translate the objectives of these laws into reality and make a genuine difference in the lives of the fisherfolk and salt makers.
SLI and Johnny have committed to this advocacy. What we need from the government is a serious analysis of the impediments to development of the local salt industry and dogged measures to address these bottlenecks.
This is raison d’etat of a government that really serves its people.
fdadriano88@gmail.com
