Road to Food Sufficiency! ‘Maraming Pagkain Ang Pilipinas; But Transport Cost Is Very High!’

Transporting goods from Mindanao to the big market of Metro Manila is more expensive than shipping bananas from Davao to Japan.

Also, given the very poor logistics and refrigeration problem, perishable goods from Mindanao face the higher risk of spoilage during the 3 to 5 day journey to Metro Manila, especially when typhoons and storms would suddenly hit the Eastern Corridor of the country.

Kaya kapag sinasabi ng ating mga Economic Planners that Philippine Agriculture is dying and that our farmers and fishermen are not competitive, it only shows their lack of understanding of the realities on the ground.

The Philippines is a geographically fragmented country composed of over 7,000 islands, 80% of which are food production areas.

Pero, how do you encourage the fishermen to catch more fish or the farmer to produce more when the high cost of transport of their produce reduces the value of their labor to almost nothing?

Marami tayong mga produkto tulad ng kamatis ng Nueva Viscaya, isda mula Zamboanga at pati kalabasa ng Agusan na itinatapon na lang kasi hindi makakarating sa merkado because the cost of transport is higher than the price of the commodity.

Mahal ang abono at farm inputs kasi kailangan pa itong ibyahe mula sa mga siyudad papuntang bukid at mura ang mga produkto ng magsasaka sa ganoon ding kadahilanan.

May solusyon ang problemang ito at napaka-praktikal pero hindi pinapakinggan ng ating mga Economic Managers at mga policy makers.

This was one of the reasons why, in spite of the odds, I have decided to launch a quest for a seat in the Senate.

Dahil ayaw nilang baguhin ang kanilang pananaw, the action to institute reforms in Philippine Agriculture should start in Congress where enabling legislations could be introduced by one who truly understands the problems.

First, through the intervention of our legislative bodies, our government must be obliged to build the enabling infrastructures to facilitate the movement and repositioning of goods – rural roads and bridges, ports, irrigation and post-harvest faciltiies.

Tapusin at sementohin na natin ang 12,000 ng mga kalsada sa kabukiran at gawan ng maiksing tulay ang mga creeks.

Second, guided by the National Food Consumption Quantification Study which identifies what food is needed by the market and the Filipino consumers, the government must guide and support farmers and fishermen on what on to produce.

Government must also take control of the consolidation, processing, packaging at strategic repositioning ng supply ng pagkain sa buong bansa.

Hindi puedeng ipaubaya sa private business groups ang movement of very critical food commodities kasi walang negosyante na magpapalugi, lalo na kapag panahon ng kalamidad.

The Food Terminal Incorporated, an existing government-owned and controlled corporation, albeit on paper, which is under the National Food Authority, established by a Presidential Decree issued by President Marcos 50 years ago should be rehabilitated and funded with its mandate expanded.

Bawat major food production area, dapat may FTI Regional Consolidation, Processing and Packaging Terminals na lilikom ng lahat ng produkto ng mga magsasaka at mangingisda upang dalhin sa mga regions kung saan ito kailangan.

Ang magsasaka ng Kamatis sa Nueva Viscaya dapat ay walang alalahanin kung saan ibebenta at kung magkano ang presyo ng kanyang kamatis dahil guided sya ng FTI RCPPT na sya namang mag-distribute nito sa buong bansa.

Ang mangingisda ng Tawitawi, Sulu, Basilan, Zamboanga at iba pa ay manghuhuli na lang ng isda ot yong mga fish cage farmers ng Bangus ay magpaparami na lang ng produkto at i-deliver na lang sa FTI RCPPT.

Market Access and stability of farm gate prices should not be a burden on the part of our food producers.

It should be government which should handle the consolidation, processing, packaging and distribution of the commodities.

In areas surrounding the big cities, there should also be FTI Food Distribution Terminals where consumers could go to directly and buy their needs or where small market vendors could source the goods that they would sell in their communities.

Sa palibot ng Metro Manila, for example, dagdagan natin ang FTI Food Outlets sa Taguig at maglagay pa sa bandang Bulacan, Quezon City, Cavite, Laguna at pati sa Clark para accessible sa consumers at mga tinderang nagbebenta sa mga community markets.

So, from the many hands through which our food products go through from the farm to the dining table of Filipinos, mababawasan ang patong-patong sa presyo at mas sariwa ang mabibiling pagkain.

If we are able to establish FTI RCPPTs all over the country, our farmers and fishermen would be more productive and our consumers would have access to fresh and affordable food.

More than that, an active and vibrant food production and local processing industries would mean more jobs for our people in the countryside and even in the urban centers.

The institutional infrastructure is already existing, the FTI, and all that we need to do is fund it so it could establish the FTI RCPPTs and the FTI FDCs all over the country.

#GovernanceIsCommonSense!

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!

#WeCouldBeNumberOne!

(Photos attached were downloaded from public websites and my previous posts.)