‘Time to bring back food terminals’
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet: Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” Marcos has committed to working with the agriculture department on the establishment of food terminals in the National Capital Region and other neighboring regions that will serve as areas where locally produced vegetables could be sold.
In her message during the celebration of the 122nd founding anniversary of the Benguet and Adivay festival which was read by board member Marie Rose Fongwan-Kepes, the senator pointed out that the resumption of operation of the food terminals will help in providing additional venues where quality and cheap vegetables from Benguet and the Cordillera will be sold at affordable prices.
The senator noted that she will convince her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is also serving as the Agriculture Secretary, to ensure the operation of the said food terminals in strategic areas around Metro Manila to expand the areas where highland vegetables will be made available to the people.
In April, Senator Marcos, through the enhanced Kadiwa program, donated several trucks to various local governments mostly in Benguet to transport for free the vegetables from the province to the different markets so that similar products will be sold at affordable prices and to ensure a sustainable supply of highland vegetables.
Moreover, she also allocated funds from the government’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation to extend assistance to the victims of calamities that struck the province over the past several months.
She encouraged the people and LGU officers of the province to sustain the efforts to preserve the rich culture, history, and heritage of Benguet so that the same may be passed on to future generations of inhabitants.
Senator Marcos assured the Benguet people that she will continue to lobby with the Agriculture department for the allocation of more funds to help improve the current state of vegetable production in the province and fight the unabated smuggling of imported crops from China.
“Adivay” or coming together is what people need at this time to contribute to the ongoing efforts of both the government and the private sector to recover from the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on agriculture — a major source of livelihood in the different parts of the province.
She rallied the Igorots and Ilocanos to strengthen the camaraderie to be able to advance the appropriate programs, projects, activities, and advocacies that will contribute to enhancing the state of the province’s agriculture sector so that it will be able to propel the local economy and bring back its vibrance to pre-pandemic levels for the benefit of the greater majority of the populace.
Benguet remains to be the source of over 80 percent of the supply of semi-temperate vegetables being sold in the different markets around the country over the past several decades.
For his part, Rep. Eric Yap disclosed that the congressional inquiry into the smuggling of vegetables is expected to start anytime after the concerned House committee has disposed of the ongoing investigation on the problem of tobacco farmers and the tobacco industry.
He asserted that smugglers should be penalized with life imprisonment to prevent them from repeating the same offense that impacts the country’s agriculture sector.
Yap claimed that many smugglers had been arrested but they are still able to pursue their illegal activities, thus, the need for the government, through appropriate laws, to impose stiffer penalties against them to send a clear message that the efforts to curb the proliferation of smuggling are for real.