Senatorial candidate Herbert “Bistek” Bautista on Wednesday urged the government to provide more investments in agriculture sector to enable the Philippine economy to recover against the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the past two years.

While the country was badly hit by the pandemic, many businesses are now “slowly rising to their feet,” according to the former Quezon City Mayor who is seeking a Senate seat under the UniTeam Alliance.

“I saw it for myself. I’ve been to Iloilo, I’ve been to Negros and I saw it. I asked how was their economy, how was their agriculture?” Bautista said.

“Well, there was a brief closure but now slowly they’re rising to their feet...We were hit by the pandemic but if you look at the entirety of the country, many businesses closed in the big cities but in many rural areas, agriculture survives,” he pointed out.

What companies only needed, he said, was just incentives, particularly those in the agriculture sector.

“There are two types of incentives: First is local incentives...it means our mayors of highly urbanized cities can give 25 to 50 percent discount in business tax,” Bautista said.

“On the national level, we might need to provide cash aid especially for businesses that are just starting,” he said.

Bautista also said there are “many businesses that are just starting in March.”

He noted majority of municipalities are agricultural areas. The government, he said, can invest in the agricultural sector to “help our farmers, fishermen, those who plant vegetables, those in livestock so they would flourish again.”

“Because a big percentage of our workers is in the agricultural sector...You give them jobs, they earn and at the same time our potential increases in achieving security in food,” Bautista said.