Ending poverty and hunger in the country lies in the power of the Filipinos’ votes, former senator and senatorial candidate Kiko Pangilinan said on Wednesday, April 23, during a forum on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Speaking before school officials and the student body of the Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City, Pampanga, Pangilinan underscored the need to address the challenges of agriculture to achieve SDGs numbers one—No Poverty—and two—Zero Hunger.
“Where do we begin in addressing the challenges of agriculture, modernization, food security, poverty?,” he asked.
“You, as voters, can begin by electing leaders who know this stuff, who will do something about it, who had done something about it and will be able to champion that cause, so we can address poverty and hunger squarely,” he said.
Pangilinan, former food security secretary of the Aquino administration, lamented the state of the country’s agricultural sector—farmers and fisherfolk continue to live below the poverty line.
“So, you want to address poverty? Modernize your agriculture. You want to address hunger? Make your farmers productive,” he said.
“There is a tenet that if you want to secure your food, you have to secure your food producers. Food security is achieved if your food producers are secured. And clearly, our farmers and fisherfolk are not secured,” he added.
To do that, Pangilinan is proposing a higher budget for the agricultural sector, modernizing agricultural facilities, providing support for farmers and fisherfolk, and finally, implementing his Sagip Saka Act.
What started as a campaign promise in 2016 turned into a full-fledged law in 2019. The Act now allows the national and local governments to buy directly from farmers and fisherfolk.
Of the P150 billion spent by the government on food annually, less than 1% goes to farmers and fisherfolk.
The former senator said that “a big chunk” of that expense must go to farmers and fisherfolk, so they can have access to the country’s biggest market—the government.
“Access to market is a necessary component of modernizing agriculture,” he pointed out, explaining that farmers will be more encouraged to increase their production if they have a big market to sell their products to.
“That’s one way of securing your farmers—access to the market. If they are able to farm more and are able to harvest more, then you will have ample food supply. Hindi magre-rely sa importation,” he said.
“Unless you want to address ample food supply which will then bring down food prices, then we will continue to experience hunger, then we will not be able to sufficiently address that development goal of zero hunger,” Pangilinan stressed.
The Philippines continues to suffer from high incidences of hunger and poverty because food has become unaffordable.
“We are not food secure. Sabi nga nila, we are probably one of the most food insecure nations in Southeast Asia precisely because we cannot afford to be able to buy nutritious, fresh food necessary for us to be able to stay healthy and strong,” Pangilinan said.
The Philippines lags behind its neighbors in budget allocated for agriculture.
According to the former senator, Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore have smaller populations compared to the Philippines, but their funding for agriculture is double to triple compared to the Philippines.
Together with Indonesia, they also have bigger agricultural exports than the Philippines USD7 billion annually—Thailand has USD43 billion worth of agricultural exports; Vietnam has about USD27 to 28 billion; Indonesia has USD55 billion; and Singapore has USD12 billion.
“That’s how backward and behind we are. That’s why hunger is such a big issue, why stunting is such a big issue, why poverty continues to hold us back,” Pangilinan stressed.