Following Muntinlupa City’s decision to purchase five tons of excess tomatoes from Nueva Ecija farmers, former senator Kiko Pangilinan on Monday, March 10, expressed hope that more local government units (LGUs) will aid tomato farmers by purchasing directly from them.
 

Former senator Kiko Pangilinan meets with Muntinlupa City Mayor Ruffy Biazon and other officials of the city government which bought tomato produce from Rizal, Nueva Ecija farmers. (Photo from Team Kiko Pangilinan)

This after the former senator rescued some 12 tons of excess tomato produce from Nueva Ecija province over the weekend.
 

In his speech after a courtesy meeting with Muntinlupa City Mayor Ruffy Biazon, Pangilinan said the city’s timely intervention through the Sagip Saka Act helped avoid wastage and provided tomato farmers with much-needed income for their families.
 

“Maraming salamat, Mayor Ruffy (Biazon) at sa ating City Council at City Government. Nawa'y magsilbing halimbawa pa ito sa marami pa nating local governments (Thank you very much, Mayor Ruffy and to our City Council and City Government. May this serve as an example to other local governments),” he added.
 

Pangilinan, who is running for a Senate seat in the May 2025 polls, also expressed his gratitude to the city’s Social Welfare Department, which will use the five tons of purchased tomatoes for its social service programs.
 

Biazon, for his part, thanked the former senator for making possible the coordination between the Nueva Ecija farmers and the Muntinlupa City.
 

"We would also like to thank the senator for linking us with the farmers of Nueva Ecija which enabled us to directly purchase tomatoes for our social service programs,” the mayor said.
 

“His advocacy on agriculture is worthy to be pursued by local governments to bridge the supply chain gap from farm to table," he added.
 

The transaction between the Muntinlupa City LGU and the farmers was made possible by the Sagip Saka Act, which Pangilinan principally authored and championed during his term in the Senate.
 

The law, which aims for strengthening food security and helping farmers grow their income by ensuring fair prices for their produce, allows national and local governments to directly purchase from rice farmers without conducting public bidding.
 

“Ang batas na iyan, precisely dahil ang suporta sa magsasaka, direkta ang siyang susi para ma-achieve natin ang food security (That law is precisely to support farmers because it’s a direct key to achieve food security),” the former senator explained.
 

He added that the law forces middlemen to increase the buying price of the produce to entice farmers.
 

“Pag maganda ang supply chain, dadami ang supply ng gulay, karneng baboy, at karneng baka sa merkado. Maaaring bumagsak ng hanggang kalahati ang presyo ng bilihin (When we have an efficient supply chain, we will have a better supply of vegetable, pork, and beef in the market. It can even halve the price of the goods),” Pangilinan said.
 

If he gets another term in Senate, the former food security czar who was responsible for the lowest rice inflation rate in decades during the Aquino administration promised to further empower LGUs to deliver quality public service to the people.