Opposition senators said the government’s Build, Build, Build program must address shortcomings in the agriculture sector.
Vice presidential candidate Sen. Francis Pangilinan, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and re-electionist Sen. Risa Hontiveros asserted that infrastructure support to this sector would spur agricultural growth and boost the country’s economy, in general.
This assertion was echoed by their party mates, Vice President Leni Robredo and former Rep. Teddy Baguilat.
Robredo, who is running for President in tandem with Pangilinan, vowed to press for the implementation of a “rural version” of “Build, Build, Build,” which aims to usher in the “golden age of infrastructure” in the country.
Pangilinan said the commitment was included in Robredo’s basket of agricultural policies that she ticked off during her sorties in Central Luzon, considered a farming powerhouse.
Under the “Build, Build, Build” program being implemented by President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, Robredo vowed to focus more on post-harvest facilities such as cold storage in the rural areas.
These facilities, she said, will ensure that produce will be preserved until prices in the market become favorable to farmers.
On the other hand, Pangilinan also urged for the construction of dual-purpose buildings that will serve as drying facilities for palay and evacuation centers during calamities.
Robredo, Pangilinan and Baguilat are advocating for the stabilization of fertilizer prices and supplies.
In a meeting with onion farmers in Nueva Ecija, Robredo noted that local planters cannot compete with the flood of imported produce because of high domestic production cost. She also cited the spiralling cost of fertilizers.
Baguilat warned that high fertilizer prices might impact the country’s food supply and people’s health. He said that “if farmers under-fertilize their crops, the result is malnutrition.”
According to Baguilat, “for the first time, gut issues of farmers are being heard during the campaign, and being spoken by their true champion.”
Pangilinan said Robredo also vowed to fight the smuggling of agricultural products and bolster farmers’ income and productivity, which will bring down the cost of food in the country.
Added to the cost of inputs is the competition posed by smuggled agriculture products, which are sold cheaper due to government subsidies in the countries where they come from.
Furthermore, together with Pangilinan, Robredo further called for a review of the Rice Tarification Law to mitigate the impact on farmers.