President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s first year as Agriculture secretary has been mired in controversies of illegal sugar imports, shortages and rising prices of agricultural products.
Despite these, the president has been persistent in helming the Agriculture department, explaining that he is in a better position to quickly carry out reforms since people in the sector “cannot say no” to the chief executive.
But how exactly did he fare in his goals and plans for the agriculture sector?
Since the campaign in the 2022 presidential elections, Marcos had already expressed plans to attain food security and stabilize the prices of agricultural commodities. These aspirations were echoed in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 2022 when he laid out six promises to strengthen the local agricultural industry.
Of the six promises, three were fulfilled. The Marcos administration succeeded in providing loans to the agriculture sector for farm inputs, imposing a one-year moratorium on payment of land amortization and interest and the signing into law of the new Agrarian Emancipation Act.
Another promise shows progress with the launching of the National Farm-to-Market Roads Network Plan 2023-2028 by the Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE) under the Department of Agriculture (DA).
While the president is on track on his promises to help farmers, Marcos fell short in achieving his goal of bringing down food prices.
Despite the establishment of Kadiwa ng Pasko to control rising prices amid the holiday season and its subsequent rebranding into “Kadiwa ng Pangulo,” Filipinos suffered from a rise in the retail prices of onion in the last week of December 2022. Although rice is sold at P25 per kilo in Kadiwa centers, the staple still ranges from P36-50 per kilo in public markets in Metro Manila as of writing.
The administration is yet to pass one of Marcos’ priority bills — the National Land Use Act. It has been stalled in Congress, with five Senate bills still pending at the committee level.
VERA Files Fact Check looked into how Marcos fared in his promises related to agriculture:
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Sources
Presidential Communications Office, PBBM says he can quickly effect change, needed reforms if he stays as DA chief, Jan. 23, 2023
On providing loans for farm inputs
- Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Credit and Financing Programs, accessed on June 26, 2023
- Department of Agriculture, Rice farmers nationwide to receive more fertilizer aid, Nov. 11, 2022
- Department of Agriculture, DA rolls out special loan program for onion farmers, March 3, 2023
- Presidential Communications Office, PBBM leads turnover of urea fertilizer from China, vows to work to strengthen ties, June 16, 2023
- Philippine Information Agency, PBBM gets business deals with China to lower fertilizer prices, Jan. 7, 2023
On creating national network of farm-to-market roads
- Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering, JAO signed to facilitate national network of FMRs, Feb. 27, 2023
- Department of Agriculture, FORMULATION, IMPLEMENTATION, AND UPDATING OF THE NATIONAL NETWORK OF FARM-TO-MARKET ROADS, accessed on June 30, 2023
- Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering, DA-BAFE launches National Farm-to-Market Roads Network Plan 2023-2028, June 21, 2023
On finding ways to bring down food prices
- RTVMalacanang, Kadiwa ng Pasko Grand Launching (Speech) 11/16/2022, Nov. 16, 2022
- Department of Agriculture, Gov’t ramps-up Kadiwa ng Pangulo to provide affordable food items; increase incomes of farmers, fisherfolk, March 23, 2023
- RTVMalacanang, Launching of Kadiwa ng Pangulo in Cebu 2/27/2023, Feb. 27, 2023
- Philippine Statistics Authority, Summary Inflation Report Consumer Price Index (2018=100): January 2023, Feb. 7, 2023
- Department of Agriculture, DA issues SRP of P125/kg for imported red onion, Feb. 7, 2023
- National Food Authority, Buying/Selling Price, accessed on July 4, 2023
- Department of Agriculture, Prevailing Retail Prices of Select Agri-Fishery Commodities at NCR Markets – Thursday, July 6, 2023, July 6, 2023
On imposing one-year moratorium on payment of land amortization and interest
- Philippine Information Agency, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr ( Bongbong Marcos ) issues an executive order…, Sept. 14, 2022
- Official Gazette, Executive Order No. 4, s. 2022, Sept. 13, 2022
- Department of Agrarian Reform, Estrella, Borromeo approve IRR on agrarian debt moratorium, Sept. 29, 2022
- Official Gazette, Joint DAR-LBP Administrative Order No. 06 s. 2022, Sept. 28, 2022
- Department of Agrarian Reform, More than half a million farmers to benefit from moratorium on payment of land amortization, Oct. 23, 2022
On passing New Agrarian Emancipation Act
- Department of Finance, Congress ratifies bicameral report condoning agrarian reform beneficiaries’ unpaid debts, March 23, 2023
- Senate of the Philippines, Senate Bill No. 1850, accessed on June 30, 2023
- House of the Representatives, Bill condoning farmers’ unpaid CARP debt okayed, Dec. 12, 2022
- RTVMalacanang, Ceremonial Signing of the New Agrarian Emancipation Act and Awarding of Land Titles, July 7, 2023
On passing the National Land Use Act
- House of Representatives, Long-sought bill calling for National Land Use Act finally hurdles House, May 22, 2023
- Senate of the Philippines, National Land Use bills filed in the Senate, accesssed on June 30, 2023
- Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 2023 Senate of the Philippines, Senate Session No. 28 (November 16, 2022) Part 2, Nov. 16, 2022Multistakeholder Forum – Mindanao [Day 02], Feb. 3, 2023
- Senate of the Philippines, Senate Session No. 28 (November 16, 2022) Part 2, Nov. 16, 2022