𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 hosted another successful national event, the 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 held on December 12-13, 2024.
The convention gathered salt makers, industry partners, stakeholders, national agencies and academic institutions across the Philippines towards revitalizing salt initiatives dubbed as, “𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐓: 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲.”
𝐏𝐒𝐔 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐄𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐌. 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐬, shared the university’s commitment to research, sustainability and community engagement anchored in recognizing the potential of science and education in transforming the salt industry into a driver of inclusive economic growth and environmental stewardship.
“𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑖ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛,” Dr. Galas added.
The 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 and 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝐵𝑁 2243 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑡 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐴𝑐𝑡, 𝐇𝐨𝐧. 𝐂𝐲𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚 𝐀. 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫, served as the 𝐊𝐞𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 during the 2nd Philippine Salt Congress and stressed that the salt industry in the country nowadays relies on salt imports from other countries, which has to be addressed.
“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 – 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑡𝑒 (𝐷𝐴-𝑁𝐹𝑅𝐷𝐼), 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝐴-𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑢 𝑜𝑓 𝐹𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 (𝐵𝐹𝐴𝑅), 𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑡 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 (𝐷𝑆𝐼𝑃) 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎, 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑔𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠,” Senator Villar said.
This year’s salt congress featured plenary sessions with topics on (𝟏) 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐭, (𝟐) 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐑 𝐑&𝐃 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐓 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬, (𝟑) 𝐂𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐭 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭, (𝟒) 𝐃𝐀-𝐁𝐅𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦, (𝟓) 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚, (𝟔) 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬, 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 (𝟕) 𝐅𝐃𝐀’𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲.
Engaging discussions on salt had come to realization with dignitaries who served as plenary speakers, 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐲. 𝐑𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐨, 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 and 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝐴𝑐𝑡 𝑁𝑜. 11985 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑡 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐴𝑐𝑡; 𝐃𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈 𝐃𝐢𝐫. 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚 𝐓𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐨𝐠 who represented 𝐒𝐞𝐜. 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨 𝐔. 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐦; 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐭 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐫. 𝐃𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐑. 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝; 𝐃𝐫. 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐌. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐅𝐀𝐑; 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐫. 𝐀𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 – 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚; 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐫. 𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢, and 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐲. 𝐆𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐥 𝐂. 𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐚.
Meanwhile, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐚 𝐀. 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 for UP Los Baños, 𝐌𝐫. 𝐍𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐏. 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚 representing the 𝐆𝐨𝐯. 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧 ‘𝐌𝐨𝐧-𝐌𝐨𝐧’ 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐨 𝐈𝐈𝐈 for the Pangasinan Provincial Government, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐕. 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 for DOST-ITDI, 𝐌𝐬. 𝐈𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐚 𝐑. 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐨 for Post-Harvest Technology Division and 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐭. 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐅. 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐲𝐚𝐧 for DTI, took part in the panel discussion.
The event was spearheaded by the 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐃𝐫. 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐆. 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐲, who was joined by 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐫. 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐓. 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐨, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐈𝐚𝐧 𝐃. 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐨 𝐂. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐫. 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐥𝐲𝐧 𝐕, 𝐎𝐛𝐨𝐳𝐚, university officials, directors and personnel.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐏𝐒𝐔!
𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐓-𝐒𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬.
