Salt industry in Las Piñas

The Las Piñas shoreline along Manila Bay was a popular destination among beach lovers, both for swimming and as vantage point to watch the famous Manila Bay sunset. With the shoreline teeming with marine life, fishing was one of the main occupations of the locals. Other sources of livelihood included farming and salt-making.

Las Piñas City was once dubbed as the “Saltbed of the Philippines". The Irasan or the Las Piñas Salt Bed in Barangay Pulanglupa, which is part of the Las Piñas Historical Project, was formally opened on December 13, 2005. The technical assistance came from the Pangasinan State University.

By the 18th century, salt-making technology was introduced in the locality using solar bed dryers. Over time, hundreds of hectares surrounding the old town were converted into salt beds. Later, clay tiles or gibak were brought down from Vigan to line the salt beds. This prevented the salt from coming into contact with the earthen ground. This allowed the salt produced to become white as snow and established the reputation of Las Piñas as a salt-making center as well into the 20th century. Representative Cynthia Aguilar Villar sought the assistance of the Department of Agriculture in rebuilding the salt farms. However, the proposal was turned down due to incapability of the agency to provide technology needed for the job. She also had acquaintances from salt-making experts in a forum held at Pangasinan State University. This paved the way for building linkages between former Senator Manuel Villar and Representative Cynthia Villar of Las Piñas City and the administration of Pangasinan State University - eventually launching the Solar Salt Demo-Project.

On the other hand, the construction of Las Piñas Fish Port was immediately assisted by the former Department of Agriculture Secretary Leony Montemayor - who happens to be a colleague of her husband, Manuel Villar. The fish port was constructed at Bernabe Compound in Barangay Pulanglupa 1. At present, some Las Piñeros, who are fishermen and clam and mussels harvesters, from Barangays E. Aldana, Pulang-lupa 1 and Daniel Fajardo still uses the facility.

The salt bed, located on a 3,000 square-meter property in Barangay Pulang Lupa I, can produce an average of 45 to 50 kilos of rock salt daily. During harvest time, the scenery of Las Piñas was filled with small pyramids of white crystals. The salt was graded and classified as either tertia, segunda and primera.

Tertia salt had the most impurities and was darkest in color. This salt was used with dry ice to preserve ice cream. Segunda salt was used to preserve fresh fish. The wholesale seafood trading communities in Navotas and Malabon were the main buyers of segunda salt. But Las Piñas was most known for its primera or first class salt which is fabled to be as white as snow. Primera salt was distributed to all public markets of Manila and used to flavor fine dishes.

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Wikipedia