candidate Kiko Pangilinan said his seniority in the upper chamber can help him achieve critical legislation to achieve food security and lower the prices of food in the country.



As a three-term senator, Pangilinan could be one of the most senior members of the incoming 20th Congress.



“Gagamitin natin yung karanasan na yun, yung alam natin, knowledgeable sa Senate legislative work at matitiyak natin walang kulay ang gutom kaya dapat talaga isantabi itong pulitika. Magtulungan tayo. Ang gulo-gulo na ng Pilipinas, wag na natin dagdagan pa,” he said during an interview with members of the media in Butuan province on Sunday, April 27.



“Paano mababawasan yung gulo? Tumutok sa trabaho, tumutok dito sa pagpapababa ng presyo ng bigas. Palagay ko, lahat tayo, lahat ng mga magiging senador hindi naman siguro tututol diyan. Syempre, isusulong pa rin ang mga paraan para mapababa itong presyo ng masyadong maraming gastusin,” he added.



In support of Filipinos amid the high prices of food, the former senator is also proposing a “Libreng Almusal (Free Breakfast)” program for daycare to senior high school students in public schools.



This program will work in tandem with his Sagip Saka Act, a law he authored and passed in 2019 to allow national and local governments to purchase food directly from farmers and fisherfolk.



Pangilinan explained that his proposed free breakfast program must allocate half of its budget to buying directly from the community’s farmers and fishermen. This will expand the market access of agricultural workers since the government is the country’s biggest purchaser of food.



The former senator said his promise to lower the prices of food is something he has already done before as the food security secretary of the late former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.



During his tenure, he brought down rice inflation to just 0.8% and overall inflation to 1.5%.



“Nagawa noon, magagawa muli ngayon. Ngunit, mas magiging epektibo kung ako ay mananalo,” he stressed.



With two weeks to go before Election Day, the former senator said that he will continue to reach as many Filipinos as he can to share his advocacy of food security. He also refused to be intimidated by political attacks, especially the trolling and bashing on social media.



“Kapag tumataas sa survey, binabanatan, ginagastusan para manira. Sana hindi sila nakakadagdag sa solusyon ng problema ng bansa. Nakakadagdag sila sa problema. Tigilan na nila. Tutukan lang natin yung ating adbokasiya instead of using money to destroy or do dirty tricks or spread disinformation,” Pangilinan said.