The House Committee on Ways and Means has approved measures aimed at institutionalizing the Philippine Cacao Development Program and establishing a comprehensive national initiative for the advancement of the coffee industry. House Committee on Agriculture and Food member Keith Micah Tan of Quezon, sponsor of the bill, announced the approval…
SunStar
+ February 12, 2021 MAJOR cacao cooperatives in the country have expressed their strong opposition to Senate Bill (SB) 1741 that seeks to declare Davao City as the “Chocolate Capital of the Philippines” and Region 11 (Davao Region) as the “Cacao Capital of the Philippines.”
Consul Armi Lopez-Garcia, chairperson of the Philippine Cacao Industry Council (PCIC), said an estimated 13 cacao cooperatives aren’t supporting the bill.
A Senate hearing of SB 1741 was held Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021.
“The Senate threw it back to the bicameral committee which means that the two houses, the Senate and the Congress, should agree,” she said.
House Bill 7460 entitled “An act to declare the city of Davao as the chocolate and cacao production capital of the Philippines and for other purposes,” filed by Deputy Speaker Conrado Estrella, III on Aug. 25, 2020 was passed by the House of Representatives on Jan. 18, 2021. The bill is now known as SB 1741.
SunStar Choco capital bill opposed
OPPOSED. The Philippine Industry Cacao Council (PCIC) is opposing the Senate Bill 1741, which will declare Davao City as the Chocolate Capital of the Philippines if enacted into law. (RJ Lumawag)
+ January 29, 2021 THE proposed Senate Bill (SB) 1741, declaring Davao City as the Chocolate Capital of the Philippines, is unhealthy to the cacao industry in the country, an official of the Philippine Cacao Industry Council (PCIC) said. As much as we really acknowledge the role of Davao City and the region in developing the industry, we believe that it should not be legislated because this will be a disadvantage to all other cacao planters and producers all over the country, PCIC National Chairperson Armi Lopez-Garcia said in an interview with SunStar Davao.
SunStar
Philippine National Cacao Industry Council (Image grabbed from Philippine National Cacao Industry Council s Facebook)
+ January 28, 2021 THE Philippine Cacao Industry Council (PCIC), the official voice of the Philippine cacao industry, has registered its strong opposition to the passage of Senate Bill 1741 (House Bill 7640), which designates Davao City as the chocolate and cacao capital of the Philippines and grants it technical, financial, marketing, and other incentives to the exclusion of all other regions in the country.
The PCIC is a government mandated organization composed of the government and private sectors to carry the official voice of the Philippine Cacao Industry.
PCIC National Chairperson Armi Lopez Garcia said the council strongly opposes the bill because it “discriminates and disadvantages” all other regions in the country that are responding to the government’s call to develop their own cacao industry.