GUEST COLUMNIST

By DR. WILLIAM S. CO, PCCI CHAIRMAN

Finally, we now have a full-time secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

After holding the post for over a year as concurrent DA chief, President Ferdinand Marcos, early this month, announced the appointment of fishing tycoon Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr to lead the Department of Agriculture. 

This is such a welcome development that finally President Marcos has someone he can rely on to manage the agriculture affairs. Mr. Laurel is not new to the agriculture sector having been in the fishing business for quite a long time now. His credentials would somehow speak of his capability to lead the DA.

Surely, the task ahead will be enormous and challenging for him and expectations are high. Immediate action that would largely be expected of him would be the implementation of certain policies to control inflation. The sharp rise in rice prices and other commodities has weighed heavily on household budgets, exacerbating the economic challenges already posed by the pandemic and ongoing global crisis. We hope he would really pay more attention, especially in making rice affordable. The Filipino people need relief, not just in the form of temporary subsidies but in the form of sustainable solutions that can empower our nation to feed itself.

We, in the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), believe in Mr. Laurel’s credentials and capability to govern the DA portfolio. We hope he will adopt a participatory and inclusive mechanism where concerned agri-stakeholders can freely reach out to him to provide inputs and recommendations for the development and growth of Philippine agriculture.

Prioritize productivity, competitiveness

At the 49th Philippine Business Conference & Expo held Oct. 25-26, the PCCI submitted to President Marcos, through Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, a set of policy recommendations that emanated from the various local and sectoral consultations. One of them is on Agriculture.  
The resolution urges the “national government to develop a long-term plan to attain food security in agriculture and fishery through infrastructure support, technology transfer, product diversification, export enhancement, economies of scale, and adhering to the improvement of value chains and supply chains.” 

To realize this, specific action points were provided for the DA to consider. In the area of infrastructure support, the DA must improve farm-to-market roads and supply chain systems through efficient logistics and transportation, prioritize provision for post-harvest facilities across all sectors to increase supply chain efficiencies, and harness advances in science and technology modernization to raise productivity and competitiveness.  

In the area of access to finance, we hope the DA could formulate and implement a strategy to compel the banks to adhere to their mandate under Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009 to lend to smallholders and fisherfolks and expand coverage of agriculture insurance for smallholders and fisherfolks to safeguard farmers and fisherfolks from losses incurred due to calamities, disasters, and crop pest and diseases. 

Likewise, the DA has to have a strong R&D Center and intensify its promotion of SMART Agriculture through innovation, digitalization, and interconnection. 

Moreover, an amendment of the Agrarian Reform Law to increase the land retention limit from five to 24 hectares, including the lifting of the agricultural land ownership ceiling to encourage more concentrated farming businesses is crucial to achieve economies of scale. 

Lastly, as the voice of business, we would highly welcome it for DA to constantly engage the private sector in regular dialogue/consultation in all commodities issues and program planning to ensure accountability and transparency in the use of government funds. And to have an agricultural roadmap with the private sector that can channel and focus resources on the development of the agriculture commodities sector, among others. 
A detailed copy of the PCCI resolution for agriculture will be handed over to DA Secretary Laurel when we meet with him this week.  
We wish, Secretary Laurel, good luck.  

(Dr. William S. Co is chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and director of the Agriculture and Fishery committee.)