THE Senate yesterday approved a bill that seeks to strengthen and revitalize the country’s salt industry.
Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2243, or the Philippine Salt Industry Development Act, was approved in a plenary session with 22 affirmative votes, zero negative, and zero abstentions.
In order to revitalize the country’s salt industry, SBN 2243 states that there is a need to formulate and establish a salt roadmap, including but not limited to programs, projects, and interventions for the development and management, research, processing, utilization, business modernization, and commercialization of Philippine salt.
The bill also seeks the creation of a Philippine Salt Industry Development Council, which will be tasked to ensure the unified and integrated implementation of the salt roadmap.
Pursuant to the measure, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, its attached agency, the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, as well as the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources are also mandated to map out, identify, and designate public lands, including portions of municipal waters, as salt production areas.
“I wish to thank all my fellow Senators for voting for the Salt bill,” said Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform.
For his part, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said, “[I thank] our dear colleagues for prioritizing this very important measure. This is one of our pet bills in this Congress. (Charie Abarca ©Philippine Daily Inquirer)
