DASOL, Pangasinan—The municipal government of this salt-producing coastal town will showcase the town’s food products as part of the annual “Pista’y Dasol Bay” or Feast of Dasol Bay on May 13 and 14 as part of the Centennial Celebration of the Municipality of Dasol.
The Pista’y Dasol Bay is actually the annual Pista’y Dayat or Feast of the Seas being celebrated in Pangasinan. For the local government of Dasol, it was re-named Pista’y Dasol Bay, to highlight the importance of the municipal waters of Dasol. Aside from the protection and rehabilitation efforts of the municipal government of Dasol on of its municipal waters, various products that originate from Dasol will be showcased during the two-day event.
Mayor Noel Nacar will lead this year’s celebration at the ReyNor Shine Beach Resort in barangay Macalang which will feature, aside from its famous rock salt, products such as caviar fish sauce, locally known as bagoong isda, and assorted organic fruit wines developed by members of the Malimpin Multipurpose Cooperative.
On Sunday, Nacar met with Go Organic! Philippines convener Roland Cabigas, also the managing director of the private think-tank La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga), to discuss the prospect of marketing Dasol’s organic products. Go Organic! Philippines aggressively promotes organic farming in the Philippines as well as the development of organic agriculture products and by-products, such as organic colored rice varieties, for export.
The Malimpin Multipurpose Cooperative was established by members of an agrarian reform community in Dasol. They were trained in wine making through the assistance of the Department of Agrarian Reform.
About 30 percent of the families living in Dasol are supported by the salt industry. Some are also making bagoong.
The salt produced in Dasol, particularly the barara salt (from the word magaspang or rough), more commonly known as rock salt, is whiter and tastes better because Dasol is blessed with pristine waters, according to Bong Lampitoc, whose family also runs a salt farm.
The people in Dasol also make fine salt and iodized salt out of the barara salt.
“If you notice, Dasol Bay is clean. We keep it that way here in Dasol because it’s the livelihood of many families in our town,” he said.
The barara salt is being promoted by the Municipal Planning and Development Office led by Fe Ballen because of its distinct and unique quality—being crystal white in appearance. Salt, she said, has many industrial uses and Dasol has been producing the best quality salt products that have been sold in Metro Manila for decades, without the people knowing where it really came from.
“We want to know where the salt that people use to cook every day comes from. If its clean, white and fine quality, it must come from Dasol,” she said.
The barara salt, she said, is also being used for spa and beauty care, body scrub, or as mouth-and-gum wash.
The local bagoong is fermented for at least one year unlike other bagoong producers that wait only six months.
“We want to make sure that our bagoong is well fermented. The longer the fermentation, the more aromatic and better-tasting the bagoong becomes,” she said.
Members of the Malimpin Multipurpose Cooperative had developed wines from duhat, cashew, guyabano (sour sop) and bignay. The fruits are organically grown or nurtured without the use of agrochemical inputs.
“Our local wines are unique because they came from wild trees,” Nacar said.
Nacar said the city government will seek the help of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to allow it to use public lands to put up tree plantations for the wine makers in Dasol.
“Our problem is the supply. We need to establish a plantation to ensure adequate supply so that farmers will have more fruits to harvest for their wines. Right now, the fruits they make are picked from the backyard and up the hills,” he said.
