FARMERS, fisherfolk, civil society organizations and industry leaders in the agriculture sector presented to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. their proposal for a crisis response plan in agriculture and fisheries, including emergency measures that could be done to avert the further decline of the sector and achieve a higher level of self-reliance and food sufficiency within the next 100 days to six months.
In a letter submitted to the new president, the coalition volunteered to help craft a strategic agriculture, food sufficiency and trade policy that they say should be anchored on social justice and a sound and strong national industrial policy in the coming months.
“In the first six months of President Marcos, we hope that he will agree with this agenda as this will lay the foundation for a long-term agriculture policy that will benefit the country’s small farmholders and fisherfolk. This foundation will also hopefully meet his goal of food self-sufficiency where we can boost our local production,” said Leonardo Montemayor, co-convenor of Bayanihan sa Agrikultura and former Agriculture secretary.
Among the salient points of the response plan is an increase in the budget for agriculture, a revamp of the structure of the Department of Agriculture, and a review of current agricultural laws, projects, and processes.
“We support the increase of the budget share of agriculture in the 2023 budget, but we would also move for the investigation of personalities inside the department that were named in the Senate investigation on agriculture importation, the audit of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, irrigation, procurement process and the mindless agriculture and fish importation under the previous administration” said Ria Miclat-Teves, one of the conveners of Bayanihan sa Agrikultura.
The group also raised the immediate implementation of programs to directly benefit small coco farmers under the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act. Additionally, Bayanihan sa Agrikultura recommended to the national government to maximize partnerships between local government units and civil society organizations and state universities and colleges in the effective implementation and monitoring of long-term projects.
The coalition proposed that President Marcos prioritize urgent items on his Legislative-Executive Agenda: review of the Rice Tariffication Law; revision of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order 172 to ensure that the fund for the development of the coconut industry is exclusively used for the benefit of coconut farmers; establishment of the Department of Oceans and Fisheries; passage of a National Land and Water Use Law; and issuance of an executive order or administrative order declaring all municipal waters already mapped by National Mapping and Resource Information Administration (Namria) as exclusive to small fishers.
Bayanihan sa Agrikultura is calling for the immediate convening of a task force within the Department of Agriculture to carry out the 7-point Crisis Response Plan.
