Duterte Eyes To Revive Marcos’ Agri And Fishery Programs
Marcos’ Agri and Fishery Programs – President Rodrigo Duterte recently announced that he would like to restore the agriculture and fishery programs of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
In a report by PhilStar, Duterte said that the former programs of Marcos which are Masagana 99 and Biyayang Dagat must be re-implemented as this came from ‘one of the brightest Filipinos’, as Duterte describes Marcos.
“Gusto ko lang kunin yung idea ni Marcos, malayo na ‘yun — iyong Biyayang Dagat pati Masagana 99. Bright ‘yung tao, alam niya ‘yung [ga]gawin niya ibalik ko ‘yun dahan-dahan ‘pag natanggap kong makuha ko [na budget],” Duterte said as quoted in the report.
(I want to take the idea of Marcos, that was before – the Biyayang Dagat and the Masagana 99 as well. The man was bright, he knows what he needs to do, I will bring it back gradually when I receive the budget already.)
In the report, Duterte lamented about how the said two projects have not been continued by the past administrations and have declared that he would want to revive them using the budget of his administration.
“Sayang lang, nanghinayang ako ‘yung kanyang Masagana 99 at Biyayang Dagat kung iyon dinala ng husto yun, OK na tayo,” the President said.
(What a waste, I regret about his Masagana 99 and Biyayang Dagat. If those have been handled well, we would be OK now.)
Duterte also mentioned that he also wanted to revive the ‘true function’ of the Landbank of the Philippines which was to ‘provide financing for lands.’ Duterte said that it has become ‘commercialize
During his visit to Tuguegarao and to other parts of Cagayan, he announced the turnover of millions of pesos worth of free corn, rice, and vegetable seeds in his speech in the said areas.
The President also took the opportunity to distribute relief goods and emergency shelter assistance (ESA) to the affected families of the Super Typhoon Lawin which ruined the said areas on its landfall.
Meanwhile, Masagana 99 was a former program by Marcos which promoted the planting of Green Revolution rice varieties that have been developed by the International Rice Research Institue.
In previous reports, this increased the production of rice and the Philippines was able to export “99 cavans of rice per hectare.”
Another program of the Marcos before was Biyayang Dagat which allows fishermen to loan in order to acquire fishing materials, improved marketing mechanisms, and diversified fishing activities, etc.
