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'Insanity': Senators slam salt iodization law for 'killing' PH's salt industry

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Jauhn Etienne Villaruel, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A worker harvests salt from a saltern in Barangay Sta. Isabel in Kawit, Cavite amid the summer heat on May 22, 2021. Traditionally, during the wet season, the salterns are used as fish pens but climate change has compromised salt production due to unpredictable weather caused by global warming. ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/05/22/20220522-salt-farming-kawit-cavite-aa-5577.jpg"/><figcaption>A worker harvests salt from a saltern in Barangay Sta. Isabel in Kawit, Cavite amid the summer heat on May 22, 2021. Traditionally, during the wet season, the salterns are used as fish pens but climate change has compromised salt production due to unpredictable weather caused by global warming.<em> ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — Two senators on Wednesday highlighted how a 27-year old law mandating the iodization of salt led to the deterioration, according to them, of the Philippines&#x27; salt industry.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/29/22/lawmakers-move-to-save-ph-salt-industry">Lawmakers move to save PH salt industry</a></li></ul><p>During the Senate committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform hearing on Senate Bill No. 1450 or the proposed Salt Industry Development and Revitalization Law, panel chairperson Sen. Cynthia Villar criticized the Act for Salt lodization Nationwide (ASIN) law passed in 1995.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/10/25/22/ph-needs-more-salt-farms-amid-rising-demand-group">Land conversion has eaten away Philippine salt farms: industry group</a></li></ul><p>The law required the addition of iodine to salt intended for human and animal consumption to eliminate micronutrient malnutrition, particularly the iodine deficiency disorders, in the country. </p><p>Villar said the law &quot;deterred&quot; the growth of the country&#x27;s salt industry.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/31/22/stabilizing-salt-industry-needs-up-to-2-years-da-usec">Agri Usec says it will take up to 2 years to stabilize salt industry</a></li></ul><p>&quot;The law, instead of promoting, became a deterrent in the development of the local salt industry. It has neglected to develop new areas and invite new investors. It made all salt food grade. In 2021, it was reported that we only produced 7 percent of our salt requirements and imported 93 percent or 550,000 metric tons,&quot; the senator said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/business/08/29/22/agri-group-wants-asin-law-amended">PH&#x27;s Salt Law should be amended - agri group</a></li></ul><p>Sen. Joel Villanueva said he was &quot;baffled&quot; by the figures considering that the Philippines &quot;is blessed with over 36,000 kilometers of shoreline, the fifth longest in the world, suitable for salt-making.&quot;</p><p>&quot;It baffles me that the Philippines, an agricultural country with shorelines that stretch for thousands of kilometers, would import 93 percent of our total salt requirements... Nakakalungkot po ito. Parang sinabi niyo po na yung Iceland nagi-import ng yelo,&quot; Villanueva lamented.</p><p>The senator pointed out that Singapore, which has a coastline area of only 193 kilometers or 0.5 percent of the Philippines&#x27;, was able to export salt amounting to $21.2 million in 2021. The Philippines only exported $213,740 of salt in the same year.</p><p>&quot;We have an enormous, untapped, and neglected resource that could change the lives of about 60 percent of our total population, who live in coastal zones,&quot; Villanueva said. </p><p>Philippine Association of Salt Industry Network&#x27;s Gerard Konghun said most of the salt imported by the Philippines are not iodized, prompting Villar to call the law an &quot;insanity on the part of government.&quot;</p><p>&quot;When you pass this law, you demanded that the local salt be iodized. Tapos ngayon, mag-iimport kayo ng salt na hindi iodized... Ano bang kalokohan yan... What insanity is this?&quot; Villar said. </p><p>&quot;Pinatay nito ang salt industry,&quot; she added.</p><p>Last year, Malacañang said the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is working to modernize the country’s salt industry and boost the production of salt.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/29/22/marcos-admin-to-modernize-salt-industry-palace-says">Marcos administration eyes modernizing PH salt industry, Palace says</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2424534" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Two senators highlighted how a 27-year old law mandating the iodization of salt led to the deterioration, according to them, of the Philippines' salt industry.

'Insanity': Senators slam salt iodization law for 'killing' PH's salt industry

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'Insanity': Senators slam salt iodization law for 'killing' PH's salt industry

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 18, 2023 09:36 PM PHT

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Senate

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joel villanueva

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