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By Prince Golez, Manila Reporter
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MANILA – Sen. Francis Pangilinan believes that Filipino farmers can meet the supply requirement of local and multinational food companies.
“Kaya ng mga magsasaka natin. Maraming nagpapatunay na kaya nila,” Pangilinan said during the hearing on the Farmers and Fisherfolk Entrepreneurship and Development Act of 2016, also known as Sagip Saka.
The chief of the Senate Committee on Food, however, lamented the lack of confidence among farmers that they can meet the needed standards of commodity-based conglomerates.
“Madalas na unang tanong ng ating mga magsasaka ay hindi tungkol sa pautang, kundi ay kung kaya ba nilang mapunan ang demand kung sakaling magkakaroon sila ng partnership kasama ng private sector,” he added.
“Nais nating mabago ito. It has to be a mobilization of resources around the farmers to build his capacity. Dapat magsimula nang maisip na, ‘Kaya pala namin’.”
In 2012, Pangilinan established the Sagip Saka program that aims to raise the income of select farmers’ cooperatives by partnering with the private sector.
Last July, he filed Senate Bill No. 50 seeking to institutionalize the program, providing farmers and fisherfolk an increased income through agricultural enterprise and development.
“From the norm of subsistence farming, we must move toward farming enterprise. Sagip Saka hopes to mobilize capital to the producer, the farmer. We will be able to do this through a multi-sectoral approach. The government, the private sector, local government units, farmer and fisher groups working together,” Pangilinan explained.
Once passed into law, Pangilinan said his measure will also enable the government to provide the agriculture sector an environment conducive to investments./PN
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