Aksyon Demokratiko standard-bearer and Manila Mayor Francisco Isko Moreno Domagoso on Thursday vowed that if elected president, his administration will provide full support and protection to Filipino farmers and other food producers to uplift their lives and ensure food security.
Moreno made the assurance in a media interview here as Team Isko embarked on a motorcade in this Central Luzon province that has an extensive agriculture and aquaculture sector, as well as major piggery and poultry industries.
“It’s more on food security. Bulacan piggeries and poultry, as well as farms, need to continue to be emphasized by the national government. Meats, domestic pigs and chickens, food products of Bulacan and rice must be protected,” Moreno told reporters in Pulilan, Bulacan.
Moreno said government protection will extend to all farmers and food producers, pointing to the plight of Nueva Ecija onion farmers who were forced to throw away their harvested onions due to low farmgate prices.
The problem is exacerbated by the lack of cold storage for farmers to store their excess onions, and cannot also bring their products to the market because of the high transport fare.
The 47-year-old presidential candidate pointed out that the Philippines is endowed with fertile lands that if utilized properly can sustain food security for the country. The problem however is that farmers are quitting due to the lack of support and protection from the national government.
“That is why we can feed our Filipino compatriots because of the amount of land that our compatriots can grow to eat. It’s just that many of our farmers, seem to be tired or have stopped farming. Maybe because of many things: losses, or probably not selling their product at the right price,” Moreno noted.
Agriculture is one of the main pillars of Moreno’s 10-point Bilis Kilos Economic Agenda, which will be his administration’s guiding principles to accelerate human and economic growth if elected president.
Moreno said he aimed to raise the income of farmers to the level of average Filipino workers by providing them with risk-free capitals; building more irrigation systems while improving the efficiency of existing ones; and establishing post-harvest facilities and cold storage facilities across the country and in major production areas.
The Manila city mayor would also issue clear guidelines on the strict importation of agricultural products to make sure that local producers can sell their products first before importation is made, and clamp down on smuggling of agricultural products to protect the interests of local producers.
To ensure farmers of their income, a Moreno administration will also buy the surplus produce of farmers at the right price to avoid the pitiful state of affairs now being experienced by Nueva Ecija onion farmers.
Besides, he vowed that government will see to it that the cost of agricultural production will be brought down to further ensure farmers of their income. This would be achieved by cutting the excise tax of petroleum products by 50 percent to bring down the cost of diesel and fertilizer.
“In our case, of course, the people first, our farmers. Because the concept of ‘Life and Livelihood’ by Doc Willie (Ong) is that we have a job opportunity, a job. Food is second, food security,” Moreno stressed.
But given the present circumstances, Moreno said it is imperative for the present government to collect now the P203 billion estate tax debts owed by the Marcoses to bring immediate relief not just to the farmers, but also to the millions of Filipinos gravely affected by the high cost of fuel and basic commodities that is aggravated by the raging Russo-Ukraine conflict.
“It is really good for the government to get it, because people are in dire need of aid now. Especially with food, work and this oppression of the price of crude oil that affects everyone’s livelihood,” he said.
“What the government ought to do, the government must get to distribute to the people, whether through services or other means of development of our country,” Moreno emphasized.
Moreno said if the Bureau of Internal Revenue would be able to collect P203 billion estate tax from the Marcos family, the amount collected could provide rice to 59.7 million Filipinos daily for 12 months.
Moreno’s computation was based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which said that the per capita rice consumption per year among Filipinos is 103.25 kilograms or a little more than two sacks of rice, with each sack containing 50 kilos.
Based on the PSA data, P203 billion can buy 119.4 million sacks of rice which can feed 59.7 million Filipino with each having two sacks of rice worth P3,400 at P34 per kilo.
It was in a March 1 press briefing that Moreno first mentioned the existence of the Supreme Court ruling (G. R. No. 120880) that tackled the P203-B in estate tax which the Marcos family owe the government. He went on to say that if he becomes president, he will surely collect the Marcos debt and use it as “ayuda” or cash assistance to millions of Filipinos affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.