The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) urged local governments to establish economic zones to attract investments and create jobs to reduce poverty in the Philippines.

"We urge the local government to have economic zones to welcome investments coming into their localities," NAPC Vice Chairperson for Government Sector Reynaldo Tamayo said in a televised interview on Friday, Jan. 12.

"We want the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which is also part of the NAPC on the government sector, to give directives to the local governments wherein this poverty reduction plan of the local governments should be a part of the of good local governance points that they should look into," he added.

Tamayo emphasized this will "push the local government to establish and create local poverty reduction action plan that they should have."

He also pointed out that creating economic zones will generate jobs, increase wages, and reduce unemployment, which is crucial to lowering poverty rates.

In addition to economic zones, Tamayo highlighted the importance of green jobs, farm consolidation, and proper inventory of agricultural products as critical strategies.

He said there is an urgent need to create more green jobs in various fields such as agriculture, manufacturing, research and development (R&D), administration, and services, which will contribute to conserving or restoring environmental quality.

"The most important thing is rapidly increasing the number of green jobs. To achieve this, we need to attract investors and the acceptance of the local governments to the investors who will enter, whichever collar jobs it may be (green or white)," he said.

Farm consolidation, he added, through a corporate approach is also seen as a way to increase farmers' income by ensuring larger production volumes, not just relying on higher prices.

"The target of our national government together with the local is to increase the production of farming, to increase the farmer's income even if we lower the price of their production," he said.

El Niño preparation

The NAPC official also acknowledged the government's efforts to mitigate the impact of El Niño on farmers by establishing more watering pond areas.

"We already have watering pond areas that can be a source for our farms when El Nino happens; we are just waiting for the instruction," he said. "We make sure that these areas are enough," he added.