Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan is asking President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to certify as urgent the renationalization of agricultural extension services to better deliver critical government support to farmers and fisherfolk.
Centralizing extension services under the national government is a strategic measure to address longstanding issues of fragmentation, uneven service delivery, and resource limitations faced by local government units (LGUs).
“(We will ask to certify) as urgent by the President the renationalization of extension services of DA down to provincial level,” Pangilinan said during the organizational meeting of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) on the Proposed 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
“So that we have support, we have infantry, to be able to address the challenges of our farmers,” he added.
The renationalization of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) extension services must bring government aid to farmers at the municipal and provincial levels.
A long-time advocate of rural development and a farmer-CEO himself, Pangilinan filed Senate Bill No. 1182, or the Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Act of 2025, last August 13.
Earlier, he shared about the challenges that Cavite-based farmers face in accessing government support because the nearest DA extension service office is three hours away in Lipa, Batangas.
This, he explained, resulted in the inability of local farmers and fisherfolk to access critical government services such as loans, financial aid for pesticides and fertilizers, technical training, and many more.
His proposed legislation will create the Philippine Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Agency—REORGANIZING the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI)—to serve “as the national apex organization for a unified and efficient agriculture and fisheries extension system of the country.”
“It shall ensure that public extension services meet the national standards of performance and effectively contribute towards the achievement of the national goals of agriculture and fisheries modernization and sustainable development,” it added.
The law will likewise mandate the hiring of several agriculture experts—provincial agriculture and fisheries officer (PAFO), assistant PAFO for fisheries development, assistant PAFO for agriculture development, city agriculturist and fisheries officer (CAFO), and municipal agriculture and fisheries officer.
The senator, who chairs the Senate agriculture committee, also said that he will be seeking the reestablishment of the Bureau of Agriculture Cooperatives which will increase local agriculture productivity and help increase the income of farmers.
He shared plans as well to file a bill that will merge the DA and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) while removing the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to create a new Department of Fisheries.
Pangilinan explained that these measures are hinged on President Marcos’ promise to address the issues in the sector.
“I think President Marcos Jr. is serious about addressing the challenges of agriculture. His SONA, the latest SONA topped, number one in his agenda was agriculture,” the senator said.
“I’m looking at this as an opportunity, a window, to put in structural reforms for the agri and fisheries sector that will finally address the neglect—we pretty much abandoned our farmers and fisherfolk to fend for themselves for the longest time,” he added.