Photo Release

Declaring Batangas town as egg basket of the Philippines: Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, enjoins colleagues to support Senate Bill No. 2044, under Committee Report No. 271, or An Act Declaring the Municipality of San Jose in Batangas as the Egg Basket of the Philippines. Villar, in her sponsorship speech Monday, January 17, 2022, noted that San Jose produces at least 70,000 metric tons of eggs annually, and that in 2019, it contributed 12 percent to the country’s egg basket. In the ‘60s, egg production started in San Jose as a backyard industry and turned it into one of the most, if not the most, successful industry with the farmers evolving into agri-entrepreneurs, Villar said. “Farmers of San Jose did not even let the bird flu infestation in 2009 rattle their industry. Through the leadership of the Batangas Egg Producers Cooperative or BEPCO, new products like liquid and frozen eggs, were developed to address oversupply of eggs,” Villar said, adding that new products such as white egg powder were developed through the collaboration of BEPCO, University of the Philippines and the Department of Science and Technology. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)