PR/via Mela Lesmoras – PTV News
Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez on Sunday prodded his fellow
legislators to prioritize the passage of President Duterte’s pet bills
that seek to increase farmers’ income and accelerate agricultural
productivity, saying this will help cut poverty level by half before
year 2022.
“If we want to reduce poverty, we need to find ways on how to increase
the Filipino farmers’ income. We need to accelerate agricultural
productivity, but this must translate to bigger take-home pay for
those who till the soil,” said Romualdez, who is one of the leading
contenders for the Speakership race.
“From Day One in office, President Duterte has made it clear that no
one should be left behind in our journey of progress. The economic
growth that we are experiencing must benefit our farmers, who comprise
majority of the population,” the Leyte solon said.
Romualdez made the remarks after President Duterte joined Friday
evening the inauguration of the Leyte rice processing plant of a
couple whose business model promises to be “the national flagship for
innovation in rice production.”
The rice processing plant of Chen Yi Agventures, owned by the
husband-and-wife team of French-Italian Patrick Francois Renucci and
Filipino-Chinese Rachel Renucci-Tan, is touted as one of the most
technologically-advanced post-harvest facilities in the Philippines.
It is located in Alangalang, a second class municipality in Leyte
about 30 kilometers south of Tacloban City, which is being developed
as the country’s fifth largest rice producing area.
“This couple is leading the charge in rice revolution. Their firm is
now a major producer that integrates seed growing, planting, farm
management, harvesting and rice production in the Visayas and
Mindanao,” Romualdez pointed out.
“This business model must be replicated throughout the country. The
Renucci partnership program increased our farmers increase ten-fold
not through magic tricks. All it did was address the decades-old
problems in agriculture such as the lack of seeds, high labor cost due
to antiquated production methods and lack of post-harvest facilities,”
he added.
Romualdez said the Alangalang experience must be studied by members of
the 18th Congress and incorporated in an anti-poverty roadmap that may
be jointly developed by the executive and legislative departments.
“Philippine agriculture needs to play a greater role in national
development. The Duterte administration has laid the foundation for
the country’s economic takeoff. If Congress can enact laws supporting
agriculture, we can sustain the economic growth and make it beneficial
to the ordinary man,” the Leyte solon added.
To make the agriculture sector more productive, Romualdez said
legislators and the President’s economic team must agree on a program
that ensures allocation of greater resources, focus on agricultural
research and extension services, and assistance to farmers in
production and marketing.
The program, he said, must also include improved access of small
farmers to credit and loan facilities from Land Bank of the
Philippines and other lending institutions.
“We all know the main problems in Philippine agriculture: lack of
capital, lack of labor and the low yield. If we can address these
issues, we can help President Duterte put agriculture back in the
national development plan and ensure an exponential increase in
farmers’ income,” Romualdez said.
