Villar Backs Davao City Bid As PH’s ‘Cacao, Chocolate Capital’

Senator Cynthia Villar is supporting a resolution of the Davao City Council declaring Davao City as the Cacao and Chocolate Capital of the Philippines.

Villar said she is waiting for the city government to send the resolution to her office so she could work on it in the Senate, naming the city as cacao and chocolate capital of the country.

“They better send it to our office so that we can work on it,” she said.

Villar, chairperson of the Senate committee on Agriculture and Food, said she will immediately act on it as soon the council resolution reaches her office.

She said the city and even the region are the leading cacao producers in the country.

“Your soil is really adapted with the Cacao production,” she said.

Last month, Davao City council committee on agriculture and food chair, councilor Marissa Salvador-Abella, passed a resolution stating that the declaration will help the farmers in advancing their income, create jobs, livelihood and spur tourism and other economic activities in the city.

She said cacao is an important commodity that offers a good source of income for small farmers and food processors.

The city aims to produce quality chocolates that will be competitive and will boost the efficiency of cacao farmers.

Based on Philippine Statistics Authority record, 80 percent of the total cacao production in the country is sourced from the Davao Region and approximately 30 percent comes from the city.

Cacao production in the Davao Region has been increasing with an average growth of at least 6 percent annually from 2010 to 2016.

The city has more than 30 chocolate processors and 6,000 cacao farmers tilling approximately 3,475 hectares of land.

Davao City is also home to the multi-awarded Malagos Chocolate, a single fine-flavored chocolate, which garnered two local and eight international awards including one of the “Best 50” in the World.

The Department of Tourism has launched the Davao Chocolate Tour Overload, an educational tour that highlights the transformation of cacao fruit into chocolate to further promote the cacao industry.