- Miriam Defensor-Santiago vows to to revive the country’s agricultural sector
- Her government will introduce reforms and invest in research and modern technology
- Santiago says her administration will offer finance programs to farmers
MANILA, Philippines – Presidential aspirant Miriam Defensor-Santiago vowed to reinvigorate the country’s agriculture industry by investing in research and modern technology if elected president in 2016.
Santiago, who was a Secretary of Agrarian Reform during the time of former president Cory Aquino, said she was able to distribute land titles to the rightful owners during her term in the Cabinet.
If elected in Malacañang, the senator vowed to introduce reforms in the agricultural sector which, despite growing a meager 0.11 % annually, has posted a 0.96 percent contraction in output in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
“Mahalagang mag-invest tayo sa research and technology para umangat ulit ang industriya ng agrikultura sa ating bansa,” Santiago said in a statement on her official Facebook page. [It is important that we invest in research and technology to revive the country’s agricultural industry.]
“Dapat magkaroon ng finance programs na mas magpapalawak sa paggamit ng mga bagong seed varieties at modernong teknolohiya para mas dumami ang ani ng ating mga magsasaka,” the senator added. [There should be finance programs to widen the utilization of new seed varieties and modern technology to increase the harvest of our farmers.]
The PSA attributed the sector’s negative performance towards the end of 2015 to the long dry spell and damages caused by Typhoon “Lando”.
While noting that poultry and livestock industries posted decent growth last year, PSA said crops and fishery subsectors recorded a decline in output, and the gross value of production amounting to P448-B, at current prices, is still 6.64 % lower than last year’s level.
Santiago, who is running under her People’s reform Party (PRP) with Senator Bongbing Marcos as vice president, assured that her administration will not only focus on eradicating corruption in government, but will also look after the welfare of the farmers and agriculture industry as a whole.
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