Rene Aruelo, 52, was in his teens in the 1980s when he would rake mud at a fishpond in a village in La Union province facing the Lingayen Gulf. His family, like most households in their community, would troop to the pond fed by saltwater from the nearby sea at Barangay Ubagan in Sto. Tomas town. The pond owner allowed residents to scrape the cracked mud every day during the dry season so they can produce salt. “We start scraping the mud early in the morning, turning them again at noontime to dry them more, and gathering them in the afternoon,” Aruelo told the Inquirer.

Sotelo, Y. (2021, May 16). Ilocos salt industry losing its savor. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A8.