Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Legislator vows to push for more food production
DAVAO del Norte Representative Anton Lagdameo vowed to push for more food security projects in his district after Speaker Prospero Nograles's call for lawmakers to spend their multi-million countrywide development funds on food production.
In a text message, Lagdameo said even before the Speaker's call, he had been using his pork barrel to support food security programs in the second district of his province.
"I have been providing subsidy to rice farmers through the National Food Authority (NFA) since the start of my term. Instead of the usual P9 per kilo buying price with NFA, I added P4 per kilo as incentive to the farmers. I am also working with the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) to improve the irrigation system in Davao del Norte," Lagdameo said.
It was learned that Lagdameo also attended the Food Summit in Clark last week where he vowed to pass initiatives in Congress to protect and promote rice farmers.
Nograles earlier appealed to his fellow lawmakers to work in unison to support food sufficiency and the efficient rice production program of the government in their respective districts.
"We will not only avert this looming scenario of a food crisis but this will also bring down the cost of food commodities which is really getting out of control," Nograles said.
The Dabawenyo congressman said lawmakers who are in agricultural areas should "go the extra mile" to boost food and rice production by providing all the needed material and infrastructure support to farming communities in their districts.
Nograles also proposed that the Department of Agriculture (DA) come out with a list of specific target areas per district that can be identified as special zones for food and rice production.
North Cotabato Representative Bernardo Piñol Jr., however, said the effort of the National Government in addressing the impending rice crisis is somehow on the wrong track.
Piñol said instead of building more irrigations and farm-to-market roads, it is better for the government to just improve and repair the existing irrigation systems and roads. He claimed that dilapidated irrigation facilities result in low production of farmlands.
"Kasi pag magpapatayo tayo ng bago, ang mga contractor lang naman ang yumayaman dyan eh hindi yung mga farmers (If we build new ones, only the contractor will profit not the small farmers)," Piñol said.
He also urged the government to subsidize the farm inputs of the farmers through provision of seedlings and fertilizers.
On the consumer side, Piñol said it would be best for the government to conduct an information or education campaign to teach the people how to save rice and avoid wastage. He said it is a common fact that thousands of kilos of rice are wasted by Filipinos on a daily basis.
Lastly, Piñol said a national workshop must also be conducted among government officials for them to be taught how to efficiently use people's money and not just waste them over unimportant projects.
Piñol said food production not only means the capacity to produce food but also the capacity of the consumers to buy food. He said a surplus of food in the market is nothing if the people have no money to buy them. (BOT)
