Enrile vows to oppose politics on food sovereignty bill

Senatorial bet Jack Enrile

Cagayan 1st District Representative Jack Enrile assured his constituents that he will continue to fight for the passage of House Bill 4626, a bill that would create agricultural development and secure food sovereignty benefiting million poor Filipinos. Reiterating the immediate needs for food security and to combat poverty and hunger, Enrile said there is a need to pass a law so that the national government will oblige to prioritize the modernization of agriculture industry. “Kulang na kulang po ang prayoridad ng ating pamahalaan dito sa larangan ng ating agrikultura.
Gusto kong tanggalin ang bahid ng pulitika doon sa tunay na agricultural development ng bawat probinsiya. Kailangan bigyan natin ng pagkakataon ang bawat probinsiya regardless po doon sa boto na puwede nilang ibigay sa national leaders nila para makamtan po nila ang tunay na agricultural development,” (Our government does not properly prioritize agriculture.
 I want to remove politics from the real agricultural development in every province. We should give every province, regardless of the votes they potentially can give their national leaders, an opportunity to realize a genuine agricultural development.) Enrile said in an interview.
 He said HB 4626 aims to establish a national food requirement plan suited for the food requirement assessment to determine the needs of the people in all regions in the country.
 On top of this, an agricultural infrastructure support map must be established to determine the different programs intended for every province that would be basis for its agricultural development goals. “Our programs on agriculture are not given attention that is why HB 4626 aims to polish these programs to ensure food security and eventually develop our economy and uplift the lives and nutritional status of the marginalized sector,” Enrile explained. Under the bill, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in collaboration with the National Food Requirement Plan (NFRP), is tasked to identify the food requirements of Filipinos and determine the regions that should produce specific food requirements.
The bill will require the DA to plan what each of the provinces in the country should produce to enhance its competitiveness based on its resources. It should also have infrastructure and marketing supports per province," he said. ”The bill is based on the principle of food sovereignty, which is the right of peoples, communities and countries to define their own agricultural, labor, fishing, food and land policies, which are ecologically, socially, economically and culturally appropriate to their unique circumstances," Enrile added