Bong Go welcomes recognition of Davao City as cacao capital

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Bong Go lauded Senate approval of a measure formally making Davao City the cacao capital of the Philippines. The bill also seeks to further enhance the productivity of the Philippine cacao industry by recognizing the status of Davao as the country’s biggest producer of cacao.

“Thank you to my fellow senators for your support of the measure,” Go said.

Senate Bill 1741, or An Act Declaring the City of Davao as the Cacao and Chocolate Capital of the Philippines, hurdled third and final reading in the Senate on Monday. The measure was sponsored by Sen. Cynthia Villar, chair of the committee on agriculture. Go co-authored the measure.

“This will serve as inspiration to all cacao producers and farmers to continue developing the industry, which not only brings honor to Davao and the entire country,” he said.

In her sponsorship speech, Villar indicated that roughly 78.76 percent of annual production of cacao in the Philippines comes from the Davao region composed of Davao del Sur, Davao City, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao de Oro and Davao Occidental.

Go, for his part, recognized the cacao farmers of Davao. “Our cacao beans are highly sought-after by chocolate makers from the US, Japan and Europe. I am beaming with pride over these accolades by our very own Filipino farmers,” he said.