Mango competitiveness measure gets House panel nod 10 years after filing

THE House Committee on Agriculture and Food has recently approved a bill seeking to bolster the global competitiveness of the Philippine mango.

AAMBIS-OWA Party-list Rep. Sharon Garin said House Bill 3393, otherwise known as the Philippine Mango Development Act, was approved at the committee level last Wednesday, a decade after it has first been filed.

The bill will be transmitted to the plenary for another round of deliberations.

HB 3393 also seeks to decrease postharvest losses, reinforce modernized techniques and technologies and introduce international marketing strategies for Philippine mango.

A key feature of the bill is the fiveyear Philippine Mango Framework for Development that shall serve as a guide to the formulation and implementation of plans, programs and projects for the production, marketing processing and distribution of Philippine mango for food and commercial needs.

The bill also provides P500 million as Philippine Mango Development Fund for production, marketing, processing and distribution of Philippine mango.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) shall also play an active role in investment promotion, facilitation, market production, and development of the mango industry.

This includes setting up links between stakeholders of the mango industry and financial cooperatives, establishing reasonable and innovative investment incentives, and facilitating the participation of local growers and producers in local and international conferences, trade fairs, and exhibits.

“Mango is one of our major assets and it’s something that we can be very proud of. It’s not called our national fruit for nothing. We need to strengthen the industry. We need the proper R&D [research and development],” said Garin, the principal author of the bill.

According to Garin, the country’s lack of streamlined process is hampering the potential of the industry.

Moreover, she said, since around 70 percent of mango production is done through backyard farming, the cost of production is higher compared to non-backyard production.

During the hearing, DA Undersecretary Evelyn Laviña and Undersecretary Ricojudge Janvier Echiverri of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) also expressed support for the bill’s passage.

Laviña said the proposed law shall reinforce good agricultural practices among stakeholders.

“This [bill] will really be a great help for the stakeholders and the government to produce mangoes with good quality for local consumption and for export,” she said.