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Once thriving balut-makers, Pateros voters seek revival of ‘dying industry’

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Angel Movido, ABS-CBN News

MANILA—Balut is a Filipino delicacy made by hard-boiling a fertilized and incubated duck egg. Pateros is well-known as the balut capital of the country.Since 1978, Girly’s father, Rudy, is one of the pioneers in producing balut the traditional way. However, their business suffered after the rivers dried up; ducks in Pateros soon became extinct. “Halos nagkanda utang kami, hindi nabibili balut namin, umaabot kami ng pagkalaki ng sisiw o pagkabulok, ’yung balut namin hindi nabibili, mataas presyo namin kompara sa norte,” Girly saidGirly recalled that she and her father used to sell out 24,000 duck eggs a week, earning P1.50 per balut sold. Since the closure of their balut shop at home, they had no choice but to rely on balut supplied by nearby provinces such as Bulacan and Pampanga. The traditional way involves alternately placing the eggs in heated palay bags. While modern technology to produce balut through an incubator has been adopted by some, this remains costly for the Mellendes family.“Sana magkaroon na ng incubator, wala nang pumasok na iba (balut makers). Sana mabalik ’yung balut-Pateros, ’yung korona ng balut sa Pateros manatili sa amin,” she said this as a request to running candidates in the upcoming elections.However, Girly still strives to make a living out of balut and salted eggs. She gets her supply in the municipal hall’s test kitchen now housing 4 large incubators.Nowadays, balut is priced at P9.50. Girly acknowledged that this is a lot more expensive than the supply coming from neighboring provinces in the north who manage to sell duck eggs as low as P7.50. She now earns 7 cents per balut, barely earning P1,400 a week, for selling about 2,000 duck eggs. Municipal Mayor Miguel “Ike” Ponce said the incubators are part of a possible livelihood project of the municipality in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).Ponce said that due to the increase in residential areas and development in infrastructure, the municipality now lacks space for duck raisers and the traditional makers of balut.“ ’Yung balut natin is a dying industry in Pateros. Wala na po kaming duck raising, wala ng ilog. Ang DOST, magsa-suggest ng waterless duck raising, eh hindi naman pwede sa Pateros, kulang na kami sa space, residential na kami,” he said.Ponce, however, is looking at a possibility to encourage duck raising in Baras town, Rizal to be able to supply eggs for balut makers in Pateros. “Zero chances na magkaroon pa kami ng duck industry, we will settle sa fact na eggs na gagamitin will come from the neighboring towns and provinces, pero gusto namin buhayin talaga (ang balut), kasalukuyan ang trial,” he said.On his second term, Ponce vows to give out loans to balut makers and will install incubators in each barangay in Pateros. He also plans to set up a balut commission that will be responsible for the quality control and prices of balut.

With various forces — both natural and man-made — going against it, the country's acknowledged balut capital has struggled to live up to its reputation.

With various forces — both natural and man-made — going against it, the country's acknowledged balut capital has struggled to live up to its reputation.

Once thriving balut-makers, Pateros voters seek revival of ‘dying industry’

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Once thriving balut-makers, Pateros voters seek revival of ‘dying industry’

Angel Movido,

ABS-CBN News

Published Apr 27, 2019 09:18 PM PHT

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Pateros

Halalan 2019

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