Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Nograles urges DAR, DA to ensure food sufficiency By Joy Romares-Sevilla
WITH the looming food crisis in the country, House Speaker Prospero Nograles urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to embark on programs that will ensure food sufficiency.
Nograles said Saturday that he already instructed the DA and the DAR to use and maximize its respective budget for food security programs, especially in Mindanao, the country's food basket.
"I told them, gamitin niyo lahat ng budget niyo, invest most of it in Mindanao which is considered as the food basket of the country," Nograles said.
He added: "I asked DAR to embark on integrated farming for food production. It could not be economically viable if only three to five hectares lang ang idi-develop, develop it all together."
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) director Teolulo Pasawa said DTI's role is to make sure that all business retail establishments will not take advantage of the situation.
"We will intensify the conduct of our monitoring so that business retail establishments will not be selling products beyond its true worth," Pasawa said, adding that DTI also aggressively promoting investments.
