Despite Being Surrounded by the Sea, the Philippines Plans to Keep Importing Salt

In the Philippines, there's the painful irony of being surrounded by the salty sea yet not having enough supply of salt for the country. 

In fact, the country's Department of Agriculture wants to keep importing salt. 

Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban told Dobol B TV on September 7 that the country is facing issues regarding its salt supply and local production. 

“Ang asin, talagang nag-iimport tayo diyan (We really import salt). We have P100 million to start for this season. And we hope and anticipate that we should be able to do something about it,” he said.

But why, of all countries, is the Philippines importing salt? 

Panganiban says it was because of years of neglect on the part of the government. 

“For the last two to three years, wala akong nakitang activity na ginagawa ng Bureau of Fisheris and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) kundi kumuha ng pera at pabayaan. Sa katunayan nga may P100 million pa sila ng 2021 na naka-program sa kanila pero hindi pa na-release sa kanila at na-follow up,” Panganiban said in an interview with GMA News on September 1. 

(For the last two to three years I have not seen any activity done by BFAR but to take money and neglect it. In fact, they have P100 million for 2021 programmed to them, but it has not been released to them and followed up.)

For 2022, the BFAR, a bureau under the Department of Agriculture, has set aside P100 million to support salt production in the Philippines. President Bongbong Marcos, who currently heads the Department of Agriculture, will lead the efforts to boost salt production in the country, according to the Office of the Press Secretary.