The House Committee on Agriculture and Food approved on Wednesday, Aug. 31, a substitute bill for the proposed measure to establish the Bataan Crop Research and Development Center, which would be a “one-stop shop” for farmers’ training and consultation.
During the hearing, Pusong Pinoy Party-list Rep. Jernie Jett Nisay moved for the approval of House Bill (HB) 535, or the “Bataan Crop Research & Development Center Act,” which was part of the substitute bill approved during the last 18th Congress.
In the bill’s explanatory note, Bataan 1st district Rep. Geraldine Roman, the principal author, said that center would “help farmers augment their income by proactively promoting and assisting them in the manufacture and marketing of rice-based products and high-value crops and derivative products".
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) Executive Director John de Leon, however, noted the need to include other high-value crops in the proposed measure, as he noticed that HB 535 was “rice-centric".
“Kung pwede maging (If possible, can we stress that it’s a) crop research and development center ‘yung diin kasi parang sa (because it is like) rice-based...parang biglang nawala ‘yung iba crops (the other crops were not mentioned). For example, high-value crop. One suggestion, baka pwede (maybe we can) integrate, collate, etc. ‘yung (the) studies on rice-based and high-value crop derived product development and marketing,” he said.
“Para maging mas (So it can be more) consistent para hindi siya (so it is not) rice-centric kundi (but) it’s encompassing all other products na pwede sa (that are possible in) product development then yun mga (the) by-products dun (there),” De Leon, a resource person during the meeting, added.
He also suggested that the center should not only work with PhilRice, but also with the Department of Agriculture (DA) for the development of other crops.
Roman, senior vice chair of the committee, agreed to include the development of the by-products of crop yields in the research center, as well as tap the DA and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) as the center’s partner agencies.
“I have no problem in changing the title of the bill to reflect that you also want to develop products. Yes, I also agree with the initial suggestion of our resource person to include other products so that we will not be rice-centric,” the lawmaker said.
Roman, however, disagreed with the position of DOST, represented by science research specialist Alvin Quiel Sabanal, to reconsider the proposed research center because of existing institutions that “accelerate and maximize the potential of the crops".
The lawmaker said the center in Bataan could be “highly advantageous in the present set-up” since it could be a “one-stop shop” for farmers who need to consult or receive training.
“I don’t think it would be a duplication, but rather an extension that would complement the existing structures of DA. It would be more convenient to our farmers in Bataan,” Roman stressed.
During the hearing, DA-Regional Field Office 3 Regional Director Crispulo Bautista said he fully supports the measure, but proposed to adopt the setup of state universities and colleges in the staff selection process for the research center.
He was referring to the establishment of a Board of Regents, which would be approving the appointments of rank-and-file employees in the office while a committee it formed would be responsible for choosing the center’s executive director.
Bautista said that the Board of Directors or Board of Regents would be composed of members of the DOST, DA, and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The proposed research center would be located inside the campus of the Bataan Peninsula State University in Abucay, Bataan, which Roman described in the bill’s explanatory note as “a widely recognized institution in the field of agriculture".