DAVAO CITY — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. affirmed the need to industrialize the agricultural sector in the country.
He cited the newly inaugurated world-class mega poultry farm of San Miguel Foods, Inc. (SMFI) in Davao del Sur as a good start moving forward to achieve this aspiration.
“For the national government, it is important because this is the way forward. This the way, this is what we will have to do to industrialize our agricultural sector so that we are able to provide sufficient food for our people,” Marcos said during the inauguration of the world-class controlled-climate Magnolia poultry farm in Hagonoy, Davao del Sur, on October 12.
Leading the inauguration activity, the President also emphasized the need for the public to realize that facilities like that of SMFI’s are what the country should promote and aspire to in the future, noting, “We could no longer depend on the informal production of food in the way that we have depended on for a very long time.”
Being the first to be completed out of the 12 planned poultry mega farm projects across the Philippines by the San Miguel Corporation (SMC), President Marcos commended SMC through its President and CEO Ramon Ang, who was also present during the activity, for being a partner of the government in realizing the administration’s socioeconomic agenda.
“I thank, of course, the San Miguel, led by Mr. Ramon Ang, for continuing to expand its operations in the country and for answering the call for investments in our agricultural sector,” he said.
He added, “You have become a reliable partner of the government through your investments in food, beverages, infrastructure, and other sectors that align perfectly with this administration's socioeconomic agenda.”
To further facilitate the progress that it will bring to the local economy, the President urged SMC to engage the local communities through job opportunities that the project will generate to ensure that the locals will also feel the success that the project will achieve in the future.
“The engagement of the local community is absolutely important because there is a tendency sometimes pag pinag-uusapan natin ang food supply and food security nakakalimutan natin yung mga farmers, yung mga broiler producers kailangan maganda rin ang kanilang hanapbuhay,” the President said.
To support the continuous progress and food security in Mindanao, President Marcos encouraged SMC to invest and put up the same facility in the BARMM region to help boost the local economy and sustain stability in the region.
Nevertheless, the President assured local raisers and farmers that the project will not affect their market chain, saying, “Hindi naman kinokompentensya yan, iba ang merkado nito, iba ang market nito, hindi dadalhin sa palengke dahil naka-process na, dressed na, frozen na, kaya’t hindi masasagasa-an ang mga small producers.”
With support from the government, the President vowed to continue its efforts to mitigate the adverse effects of the diseases in the sector, such as avian influenza.
"We are starting, meron na palang bakuna ang avian influenza, so mag-a-acquire na tayo ng avian influenza vaccine. Yung sa avian flu ay mukhang effective na kaya bibili tayo para mabigyan natin at mabawasan yung mga kina-cull dahil tinamaan ng avian flu,” the president said. PIA DAVAO