DA Chief Urges Swift Passage of Key Reforms to Revitalize Philippine Agriculture
MANILA – Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. has called on Congress to fast-track long-pending legislative measures and overhaul entrenched institutions as the government intensifies efforts to revive a farm sector hampered by years of sluggish growth.
Tiu Laurel said the Department of Agriculture (DA) is urging lawmakers to help repair the sector’s “structural backbone,” beginning with outdated laws that govern major agencies and delay decision-making.
Congress has already passed the Animal Industry and Competitiveness Act, which seeks to modernize the livestock, poultry, and aquaculture sectors and expand access to financing through an annual ₱20-billion allocation over 10 years. Amendments to the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) law are also nearing completion, aimed at streamlining operations, strengthening accountability, and reducing bureaucratic red tape. Several previously sidelined staff agencies will be restored to full line functions to accelerate project implementation, he said.
Attention is now turning to commodity laws that no longer reflect current market realities. Tiu Laurel said amendments affecting rice, corn, and coconut are being lined up to strengthen value chains and raise farmer incomes.
A major focus of the reform push is the long-delayed unlocking of the Coco Levy Fund. “With global coconut prices expected to remain high in the coming years, further delays risk wasting a strategic advantage,” Tiu Laurel warned, noting that farmers could miss out just as global demand peaks.
However, he stressed that legislation alone will not be enough to transform agriculture. Extension workers must return to the field as the “front line” of reform, while cooperative development is being expanded through new agri-cooperative programs with Senator Francis Pangilinan to improve farmers’ access to credit, markets, and support services.
The legislative drive is being reinforced by a surge in infrastructure investments. The DA is rolling out “Bagsakan ng Bayan” mega food hubs in Clark, Bukidnon, Quezon, and other strategic locations. Four mega cold storage facilities are set for completion next year, alongside around 60 modular cold storage units nationwide—the agency’s first large-scale cold chain expansion.
More than 140 post-harvest facilities built from 2023 to 2025 will anchor a hub-and-spoke system designed to reduce losses and stabilize prices, with additional facilities to be financed under the extended Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.
The reform agenda also includes the construction of new deep-water agri-ports in Mindoro and Zamboanga del Norte, as well as upgrades to a port in Albay. Tiu Laurel said ₱2.4 billion has been earmarked next year for port projects, with nearly a dozen agri-ports in the pipeline nationwide to cut logistics costs and boost inter-island trade, particularly from Mindanao.
Strategically, Tiu Laurel said agricultural policy is shifting away from an overly rice-centric approach. While rice remains a priority, the focus is broadening to include sugar, coconut, corn, high-value crops, logistics, and digitalization. A new agriculture command center is set to go live by January, alongside efforts to revive the National Food Authority and Food Terminal Inc., as the administration seeks to transform agriculture into a growth engine rather than a perennial problem sector.
— NPO News Team | DA-PR
