A congressman from Basilan on Sunday said the administration should strengthen the country’s food production system “as a parallel effort to stave off the deleterious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Deputy Speaker Mujiv Hataman said funds must be allocated to improve and enhance the agriculture and agribusiness sectors.
“All aspects of life were affected by the pandemic including food production. There are worries that we will run out of food supplies if this plague persists,” Hataman said.
“The government should therefore resume, with a new sense of urgency, the repair and construction of rural infrastructure like irrigation and support to farmers and farm producers, which are needed to boost food production,” he added.
According to Hataman, strengthening the country’s farms is also the right step to achieve food security and self-sufficiency, as many countries have already imposed export bans or some form of restrictions on some food commodities to protect domestic supply.