AGRI party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee on Friday pushed for the immediate passage of a measure that seeks to revitalize the salt industry in order to create jobs and to increase the income of salt producers.
Lee, one of the authors of House Bill No. 8278 or the “Philippine Salt Industry Development Act,” welcomed the approval of the measure on 2nd reading.
He said the bill “is expected to envigorate our salt industry and create 3,000 to 5,000 jobs for our countrymen, especially in rural areas, where they’re needed most.”
According to him, “it is about time that we pass this bill to put an end to the suffering of our salt farmers and salt producers.”
“It is not right that we still import 93 percent of our salt needs and
leave our salt industry behind — [the Philippines being] an archipelago country with one of the longest shorelines in the world,” Lee said.
The lawmaker from Bicol revealed that if enacted, the measure will establish a Philippine Salt Industry Development Roadmap that will provide support to the industry through appropriate technology and research, training programs, incentives to investments, adequate funding, aid in production and marketing to capacitate the country to achieve salt self-sufficiency so the country can become a net exporter of salt.
During the plenary session, one of the proposed amendments that Lee introduced in HB 8278 was the creation of the Salt Industry Development and Competitiveness Enhancement Fund or SIDCEF.
Under the measure, the amount allocated to SIDCEF will be released directly to the implementing agencies, provided that the unutilized portion shall not revert to the general fund but shall continue to be used for the development of the salt industry.
The funding necessary for the initial implementation of the measure shall be charged against the current year’s appropriations of the departments and agencies concerned. Thereafter, the appropriation will be included in the national budget.