M’lang, North Cotabato visit DUTERTE TO LAY DOWN AGRICULTURAL AGENDA

By Manny Piñol

Presidential prospect and Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte is expected to share his vision for Philippine agriculture when he visits the rural town of M’lang, North Cotabato which celebrates the farmers’ week and foundation day tomorrow, Monday.

Duterte, the only Presidential hopeful who is considered to have a deep understanding of agriculture, has been advocating for greater government intervention in food production, including the marketing of farmers’ produce.

His proposal that irrigation services should be provided free to the country’s rice farmers to encourage them to produce more is expected to reverberate in this town with 8,000 hectares of rice fields and the source of much of the organically grown rice being exported by the Philippines now.

Rice farmers in M’lang and other rice producing towns of North Cotabato pay irrigation fees to the National Irrigation Administration in the form of 100 kilos of palay during the rainy season and 150 kilos during the dry season.

Sixty percent of the irrigation fees is turned over to the NIA to pay for the salaries of its workers and finance its operations cost.

“Where in the world could you find a situation where it is the farmers to finance the operation of an irrigation agency when it should be government which should support the farmers?,” Duterte asked during a recent visit to the farming town of Sibalom in Antique where he also met with farmer-leaders.

Duterte said the Number 1 mission of the next President of the country is to ensure “Available and Affordable Food” for the Filipinos.

“More than anything else, the next President must make sure that there is Available and Affordable Food for his people. Everything else is secondary,” he said.

Duterte said government planners should provide a scientific study on the quantity and the kind of food the Filipinos would consume so that the intervention to be provided to the different food producing sectors could be planned as well.

“There is really no need to import food items like chicken, pork, vegetables, rice and even beef because Filipino farmers could produce these with government’s support,” he said.

Duterte’s concern for greater government support for the agriculture sector is part of his advocacy for rural development and Federalism.

“Agriculture does not only produce food. It also creates jobs in the countryside,” he said.

“When there are jobs in the countryside, you decongest the urban centres and you also encourage the bright young Filipinos now working abroad and away from their families to stay in the country and contribute to the growth of this nation,” Duterte said.

M’lang Mayor Joselito Piñol said thousands are expected to be at the town plaza of M’lang to welcome Duterte.

“Excited ang mga tao na makita si Mayor Duterte in person,” Mayor Piñol said.

The people of M’lang and North Cotabato have an emotional attachment to the colourful Mayor of Davao City because of his help and concern to the victims of the conflict in the province most of whom were brought to hospitals in Davao City.