Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Maria Dionisio’s family* has been tilling a 2-hectare rice land in Pampanga since the 1940s.
She said their earnings have always been dependent on the supply-demand situation. During their last harvest in March, Maria said they were able to sell their produce for ₱18 per kilogram which, she said, is high enough.
Maria said she is also thankful they have been consistently receiving assistance from the government that helps lessen their expenses.
Per planting cycle, Maria said they receive four sacks of seeds at 20 kilograms each, and six sacks of abono at 50 kilograms each.
“Mula kay [former President Rodrigo] Duterte hanggang kay [President Ferdinand] Marcos [Jr.] naman ay consistent ito. Malaking tulong ito considering ang presyo ng binhi na ₱1,500 (50 kilograms) at lalo na ng abono na nasa ₱2,700 (50 kilograms) para sa magandang klase,” she noted.
[Translation: It has been consistent from Duterte until Marcos. This is a big help for us considering that seeds are ₱1,500, while soil fertilizer is worth ₱2,700 for the ones with good quality.]
Aside from this, Maria said they also receive crop insurance from the government worth around ₱5,000 every time they are hit by calamity.
Marcos, who is also the agriculture secretary, said during his first State of the Nation Address that one of the first concerns of his administration was \”to strengthen the agricultural sector.\”
In a speech during the recent celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Department of Agriculture (DA), Marcos also noted that the ultimate goal of his leadership is adequate food supply for Filipinos at affordable prices, as well as good nutrition.
With all the issues the sector faced in the past year, was the president’ s strategy to keep leading the DA effective enough to cultivate growth in the sector?
The agri sector in a year
In the first year of the Marcos administration, the agriculture sector had to deal with a number of hurdles, one of which was the high cost of onions. Per kilogram price of onions soared to as much as ₱800 in December 2022.
One of the causes was the dwindling supply of the commodity, which was not enough to meet the demand, according to the DA. This issue was even coupled with problems on smuggling and cartels, as well as price manipulation.
READ: Ex-DA chief denies involvement in onion cartel
During the past year, Marcos also approved importation of several commodities, with sugar being the most controversial one.
Lawmakers investigated the signing of Sugar Order No. 4 that permitted the importation of 300,000 metric tons of the sweetener.
During the probe, Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, who was one of the signatories, was placed under preventive suspension in August.
The other signatories, namely former Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) chief Hermenegildo Serafica, and former SRA board members Roland Beltran and Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. resigned from their posts in the same month.
Former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez also got entangled in the issue.
READ: Rodriguez explains role in sugar importation mess, ignored Order No. 4
READ: Rodriguez defends Marcos in sugar importation mess
Rodriguez was cleared by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, but the panel recommended criminal and administrative charges against the four signatories.
In January, the Office of the President dismissed the administrative complaint filed against the four agriculture officials involved in the fiasco. It said the issuance of the order was done in “good faith absent any showing that the respondents were aware of their lack of authority.”
Sebastian was also given a new role in the DA as undersecretary for rice industry development.
Meanwhile, David John Thaddeus Alba was named as acting SRA administrator in August, while Pablo Luis Azcona and Ma. Mitzi Mangwag, completed the sugar board to represent sugar planters and sugar millers, respectively.
In March, the Presidential Communications Office announced the resignation of Alba due to “worsening health condition.” He was replaced by Azcona in April.
Another issue raised in the sector was the alleged government-sponsored smuggling of sugar ahead of the effectivity of SO No. 6, according to Senator Risa Hontiveros. The order allowed the importation of 440,000 metric tons of the commodity.
READ: Marcos ordered to get sugar ‘through selected importers’ – DA senior official
In relation to this another controversial SO, the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry-Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries’ (NACUSIP-ARB) Council and the Alternatiba Party-list in June filed a graft complaint against Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban before the Office of the Ombudsman.
READ: Acting SRA chief on graft complaint vs. Panganiban: ‘I don’t see where the graft is’
Despite these, the agriculture sector posted a 2.1% growth in the first quarter of 2023, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed. This reversed the 0.3% decline in the same period in 2022, as well as the 1.0% decline in the fourth quarter of last year.
‘133’:
\”This was due to the annual increases in the value of production of crops, livestock, poultry, and fisheries,\” the PSA said.
Crops accounted for 57.8% of the total value of production, followed by poultry (15.5%), livestock (14.4%), and fisheries (12.7%).
Speaking to CNN Philippines, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) chairperson Rosendo So also said rice farmers have not been complaining about losses as they were able to sell their harvest for ₱25 per kilogram.
The fertilizer subsidy distributed by the government was also a great help in terms of lowering cost production, he added.
Is Marcos an effective DA secretary?
With the ups and downs of the sector in the first year of the Marcos administration, So said he can give the agriculture chief a score of seven out of 10.
“Corruption...Nabawasan, sabihin natin. And of course, yung budget ng DA lumaki para sating agrisector. Malaking bagay yung dalawa na yon,” So said.
[Translation: Corruption, let’s say, was lessened. And of course, the DA’s budget increased for the agrisector. These two things are big.]
For 2023, the agriculture sector as a whole was allocated a ₱173.6 billion annual budget, higher than ₱132.2 billion in 2022.
While he commended Marcos’ performance, So said there is still a problem among the agriculture chief’s undersecretaries who seem to disagree that slows down their actions.
Aside from the higher budget, former DA Secretary William Dar also gave credit to Marcos for making food security his top priority in the economic agenda.
During the CNN Philippines special, “Pangulong Marcos: Ang unang taon,” Dar said he is also seeing “some continuity of the major strategies that we have laid down before,” like farm clustering
For the department, DA spokesperson Kristine Evangelista said Marcos has been an effective secretary as he is able to engage all other departments and stakeholders.
However, Dr. Patrick de Leon, associate professor and Business Economics Program Coordinator at the UP Diliman Extension Program in Pampanga, rated Marcos a one.
One of the reasons he mentioned was his campaign promise of ₱20 per kilogram of rice.
“Farm gate price of palay per kilogram at the national level was ₱ 17.43 in March 2022 and ₱18.57 in March 2023 (PSA, 10 June 2023). That was a 6.5% increase. He should not have given that promise in the first place because given the high cost of inputs, it is impossible to bring down the price of rice to ₱20/kg,” De Leon said.
He also said Filipino farmers and fisherfolk remain to have the highest poverty incidence among our basic sectors. Citing PSA data as of March, fisherfolk have a poverty incidence of 30.6% while farmers have 30%, he noted.
De Leon also pointed out that low wages and high prices of commodities combined further worsens the situation of farmers and fisherfolk.
“Agriculture minimum wage in Central Luzon (except Aurora) ranges from ₱414-430 (National Wages and Productivity Commission, 02 January 2023) but headline inflation remains high: 5.4% in May 2022 and 6.1% in May 2023 (PSA, 06 June 2023). Those in the agriculture sector are worse off because of low wages and high prices of commodities including food,” he explained.
CNN Philippines also asked the public about their opinion on Marcos’ performance as agriculture secretary.
Facebook user Omar F. Alog said, “He’s not doing any better. Both as president and DA secretary.”
Another Facebook user, Angel Driz Lucido, said the president is not competent enough to lead the DA, while Oggie Liwanag said, “Puro pangarap pa rin! (Everything is still a dream!)”
Should Marcos appoint a full-time DA chief?
Asked if the president should already name a full-time agriculture chief, De Leon said it is time.
He said he believes that Marcos is not competent to lead the DA.
For De Leon, among the qualities a competent DA chief should have is that he or she “should be able to deal with shortages, surpluses, and volatility of agricultural prices. He/She should be judicious in ordering importation of commodities such as sugar. He/She should dismantle the cartels or the unnecessary middlemen in rice, sugar, onion, garlic, and other agricultural commodities.”
An agriculture secretary should also eliminate taxes on agricultural inputs, like fertilizers and agricultural chemicals, and push for integrated farming systems and integrated pest management, he said. The top DA official should also have the skills to implement solutions on the effects of climate change on the sector and should prioritize crop insurance and reduce risks of farmers, he added.
For Facebook user Ruel Lemence Yacat, “We need innovative sec. of agriculture. Not kind of BBM whose knowledge below far from expected. One year of tribulations and hardships.”
Facebook user Roque Langkay also said the role of being DA chief should be given to someone else.
On the other hand, So and Dar both said Marcos should continue holding the position for a year.
“Kailangan natin si Presidente Marcos na manatil muna. Say, another one year. Para yung reporma na gusto niya, talagang maitodo niya,” Dar said.
[Translation: We need President Marcos to remain for now. Say another year. So that the reforms that he wants, he can really push for them.]
The former DA chief said Marcos should continue to implement programs that will boost local production.
“I believe that they have to level it up much more this time around kasi…nandiyan pa rin yung headwinds (the headwinds are still there),” Dar said. “We really need to prop up local productivity, you have to engage more the LGUs [local government units] so that the extension agents are really made busy to really educate and enhance the capabilities of our farmers.”
Evangelista said this is the direction of DA – to improve productivity of local farmers to attain food sufficiency.
The department is also working on a calibrated importation to ensure that local produce will still be prioritized.
So said the DA under Marcos should improve seed production, and focus on providing more subsidies to farmers.
For Maria, she hopes the government will continue the programs that have been beneficial for them.
She also urged officials to invest in research and to review agricultural laws and policies to ensure that both farmers and consumers win.
