TACLOBAN CITY – A bill for food sovereignty is being pushed in Congress by its proponent Cagayan Valley first district Representative Juan Ponce Enrile Jr.
In his visit last week in Leyte, Enrile held a dialogue with members of various farmers’ groups in the province asking support from them for the passage of House Bill 4626.
Under the bill, known as “Food for Filipinos First Act of 2011” all local government chief executives shall submit their provincial food requirement plan to the Department of Agriculture every March of the previous year so that the DA in collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry can formulate the National Food Requirement Plan (NFRP) before the budget call for inclusion in the proposed budget of the succeeding year.
House Bill 4626, aside from formulating NFRP, also seeks for prohibiting conversion of lands into other purposes particularly into agricultural lands into commercial, industrial and mining.
Conversion of agricultural land into other purposes, according to Enrile, is among reasons why the country is experiencing inadequate rice supply.
Providing scholarships on agriculture related courses for farmers children is also part of the proposed bill of Enrile, to encourage them to take agriculture courses and return to their farm after graduating in order to help in providing stable source of food for the area they are located and for the country.
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