SB 2044: DECLARING SAN JOSE, BATANGAS THE EGG BASKET OF THE PHILIPPINES

Explanation of Vote of Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto

31 January 2022

Mr. President, my dear colleagues:

Kung ang almusal n’yo po kanina ay isang uri ng “log” —tapsilog, longsilog, tocilog, tapalog— malamang ang itlog na iyon ay kabilang sa 3.45 milyon na arawang produksyon ng isang bayan sa Batangas na isang oras lang ang layo mula dito. 

And whether you prefer your egg poached, fried, boiled, or scrambled, most probably it is still from the town of San Jose.

Even if you want your egg “abstained,” because you have renounced this super food, or because your doctor has denounced it, there is simply no escaping it. 

It is because eggs are in our bread, noodles, cakes, ice cream, biscuits, and in dishes whipped up by Michelin-star chefs.

By one estimate, San Jose accounts for 1/8 of our national egg production annually, or some 1.26 billion eggs of the 10.1 billion.

It is enough to pave Batangas roads with thick omelette, or cover Taal Volcano in souffle.

And it takes balls to produce this many eggs.

In true Batangueño grit, the people of San Jose went against convention and created an industry that feeds the nation and employs many.

Bakit ko po nasabi ‘yun? Eh di po ba, sa MBA classes ang turo ay: 

Do not put all your eggs in one basket.

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.

But San Jose people placed all their bets in one basket, and counted their earnings without waiting for the eggs to hatch.

And I am a witness to their industry, and success, as I had the honor of representing them for nine years in the Bigger – and my soon-to-be – House.

And I believe that it is time for the Senate, if it is indeed the smaller but smarter House, to honor San Jose by officially designating it as our country’s egg capital.

If capital, Mr. President, is defined as center of activity or assets invested, then either can be applied to San Jose, where billions of pesos in investments are producing billions of egg annually. 

Their output is so prodigious that egg has become one of the handful of food we are producing sufficiently.

Tilapia is another—which, I say with pride, is also vastly grown in Batangas.

Mr. President, my dear colleagues: 

Perhaps you have heard me joke many times that what we have indeed is a “commendable” Senate.

An institution that does not waive the chance nor waste any opportunity to officially commend victories, from beauty queens to boxing champions. 

Like most of our countrymen, we have yet to meet a sash and a crown we do not lavish copious praise on.

If that is the bar to officially receive Senate praise, then I say that it is a low one that can easily be hurdled by a town of 80,000 for their enormous contribution to the economy, for producing a food product no one has complained about as short in supply or high in price.

Ginoong Pangulo:

Hindi po sapat na gawaran lang ng titulo na pambansang kapital ng produksyon ng itlog ang magiting na bayan ng San Jose. 

Ang mas kailangan nila ay kung paano pabababain ang presyo ng patuka, kuryente at transportasyon na kailangan ng kanilang produkto. 

Purihin po natin ang nasa industriya ng itlog. Pero kailangan din sigurong aksyunan ang diskarteng bugok na nagpapahirap sa kanila, sa ating mga magsasaka, at sa sector ng agrikultura.

I vote “Yes” to this measure.