Office of

Rep. JACK ENRILE

1st District Representative, Province of Cagayan
S-401 Congress Building Complex, Constitution Hills, Quezon City
Phone: 931-5001 local 7242, 931-6621; Email: jack.enrile@gmail.com

MEDIA RELEASE
Reference: Mr. Richard Vargas (0916-2702573)

07 December 2010

Should We Be Producers For Others

Or Consumers Of Others?
A Privilege Speech By
The Honorable
Jack Enrile
1st District, Province of Cagayan

06 December 2010
House of Representatives

Madam Speaker, my esteemed colleagues, ladies & gentlemen, magandang gabi po sa

inyong lahat.

I stand here today on a matter of personal and collective privilege. I have served the
first district of the province of Cagayan for a full term now and I am beginning a new
term in this 15th Congress.

The province of Cagayan is a “vast expanse of plains and valleys, bordered by

mountains, running north to south both on its eastern and western ramparts. It is
crisscrossed by rivers and creeks, the largest of which is the Cagayan River, which
originates from the province of Nueva Vizcaya and has a drainage area of about 27,300
sq. kms. And a groundwater reserve of around 47,895 million cubic meters. The larger
tributaries of the Cagayan river are the Pinacanauan river in Peñablanca in the
southeast; the Dummun river in Gattaran and the Pared river in Alcala, both in central
Cagayan; the Zinundungan river in Lasam and the Matalag river in Rizal, both in the
west. The other rivers in the province are the Chico river in southwest Cagayan at Tuao,
the Pata river and Abulug river in the northwest, Buguey river in the north, and the
Cabicungan river in the northeast. These rivers drain the plains and valleys of the
province, and provide water for domestic and irrigation purposes, as well.”

Despite being surrounded by bodies of water, the price of fish in Cagayan is high. The
best specimens are not sold in the market but are exported. In fact, fish from adjoining
provinces, even Navotas and Manila, are a lot cheaper than the bountiful produce we
have in my province. According to BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources),
as of 2008, Cagayan is the tilapia (St. Peter’s fish) capital of the Philippines. So why is
tilapia more expensive in Cagayan than in Manila?

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 Office of
Rep. JACK ENRILE
1st District Representative, Province of Cagayan
S-401 Congress Building Complex, Constitution Hills, Quezon City
Phone: 931-5001 local 7242, 931-6621; Email: jack.enrile@gmail.com

We produce rice, corn, peanuts, beans and fruits. Livestock products are aplenty. In a
province that produces what is needed by its people, why hasn’t hunger been solved in
our lifetime? And when a people are hungry, can they be expected to focus on anti-
poverty measures to increase the money in their pockets? If we are able to provide for
our needs, Cagayan can then share the excess with other provinces who are less able to
do so. Why are we not helping the poorest of the provinces? Is it not time to rethink our
present policies and adopt a new paradigm?

As of 2006, per the National Statistics Coordinating Board (NSCB), Cagayan’s poverty
incidence is at 23.1%. Cagayan is one of the provinces where the poverty incidence is
below the national average of 32.9%. To note, there has been an increase in the annual
per capita poverty threshold from Php11,683 to Php12,501. As you all very well know,
poverty incidence refers to the proportion of families or individuals with a per capita
income less than the per capita poverty threshold of the total number of families or
individuals. We therefore await eagerly the release of the 2010 census so as
policymakers, we can be guided accordingly.

We also hope to see the Medium Term Development Plan laid out, for as stakeholders
we want to know how it affects our respective provinces and districts. The present
MTDP is about to end in FY2010.

Added to this and perhaps more important, is the enunciation of our foreign policy,
trade policy and our national security strategies. Some say, it will just be the same. I
say, lets build on to what appears to be the same and pursue as a policy tenet: food
sovereignty.

Madam Speaker, my dear colleagues, we Filipinos should determine what we need. We

should not be told what to produce. I stand before you today to make a pitch for food
sovereignty.

Hindi po ba dapat na tayo ay producers muna para sa atin, sa mga Pilipino, bago
tayo mag export sa labas? Tayo po ba ay consumers lamang ng mga produktong
itinatambak sa atin o inaangkat natin, kung kaya’t nag-iiba na rin po ang ating
pananaw sa pagkain? Nag-iiba na rin ba ang ating agrikultura?

Ang sibuyas na pula at bawang na produkto ng Regions 1 and 2 ay hindi makasabay

sa presyong iniaangkat o itinatambak na sibuyas at bawang galing sa Taiwan.
Namamatay po ang ating magsasaka at nabubulok ang ating likhang produkto dahil
sa maling patakaran na ito. Pero bumubili pa rin po ang mamimili natin dahil mas
mura kesa sa ating sariling produkto.

Mas mura ba ang hamburger kaysa organically grown products? Bakit? Ang pulang
bigas ba ay mas mahal kaysa sa sing-tingkad ng labanos na bigas? Karamihan pa ay
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 Office of
Rep. JACK ENRILE
1st District Representative, Province of Cagayan
S-401 Congress Building Complex, Constitution Hills, Quezon City
Phone: 931-5001 local 7242, 931-6621; Email: jack.enrile@gmail.com

pinapadala sa ibang bansa dahil ang henerasyon ng mga Pilipino ngayon ay mas
gusto ang puting bigas.

Madam Speaker, my colleagues, we need a paradigm shift in the way we define our
agriculture and trade policies. We need to lead the voices of countries like us in the
world on the need to protect our own since the hegemonies have protected theirs
through subsidies and quantitative restrictions.

Food sovereignty is the “right of peoples, communities, and countries to define their
own agricultural, labour, fishing, food and land policies, which are ecologically, socially,
economically and culturally appropriate to their unique circumstances. It includes the
true right to food and to produce food, which means that all people have the right to
safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food and to food producing resources and the
ability to sustain themselves and their societies.”

Food security on the other hand, refers to “the availability of food and one's access to it.
A household is considered food-secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear
of starvation.”

A Filipino is secured if he has sovereignty. Kung wala kang karapatan magdesisyon,

mas wala kang kasiguraduhan sa buhay. Mahirap pong makipag-usap sa taong
gutom o dahil sa biglang pagkain kung kaya’t sumakit ang tiyan dahil hindi na sanay
malamanan ng kanin, gulay at isda. Nasanay na lang po tayo sa instant noodles.

We cannot promote democracy when Filipinos live in karitons, or, even insist that they
send their children to school, hungry, when food is usually shared by the whole family
or, when they live in a 5 x 5 meter space called home.

Filipinos will have food security if we have food sovereignty. As leaders, let us move
towards that direction and not be limited with just securing the wherewithal for now.

I therefore ask my colleagues, Madam Speaker, the combined leadership of the this
House, the members of the minority, to join this humble representative in this crusade
for a comprehensive framework against poverty and hunger on 7 main points –

1. Prioritize agricultural infrastructure support

 Kailangan ang malawak na network ng farm to market roads sa mga

probinsyang agrikultura
 Taasan ang investments sa public irrigation facilities at gawing libre ang
patubig sa mga magsasaka

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 Office of
Rep. JACK ENRILE
1st District Representative, Province of Cagayan
S-401 Congress Building Complex, Constitution Hills, Quezon City
Phone: 931-5001 local 7242, 931-6621; Email: jack.enrile@gmail.com

 Taasan ang investments sa post harvest facilities para maibaba ang

production costs ng mga magsasaka
 Magtayo po tayo ng cold storage facilities sa mga major ports ng fishing
and agri-based provinces
 Akitin natin ang mga pribadong sektor na magtayo ng food processing
stations sa mga ibang probinsya
 Pagtibayin ang research sa food packaging at ituro ito sa mga kooperatiba
 Iprioridad ang mangrove protection and rehabilitation sa mga probinsyang
balot ng tubig

2. Ensure access to low-interest credit to farmers, fisherfolks and farm workers.

Let us push our lending institutions to give this very important sector of our
society a real chance to thrive and prosper. When the farming sector falters, so
does the rest of the nation.

3. Remove all subsidies on export-oriented agriculture and transfer the subsidies to

grains and vegetable farmers and livestock growers.

4. Launch an effective and strong campaign against smuggling and dumping of food
and agri-based products and commodities that could be supplied by our own
local producers.

5. Reclaim our original strength on agricultural research and scientific

breakthroughs.

Our core competencies have not changed. We are still an innovative and creative
nation we once were. We just need to refocus and re-examine our priorities.

6. Strengthen NFA as a state trading enterprise that protects our farmers and
fisherfolks and their produce from predatory elements.

7. Break all land monopolies as government implements the last phase of land
reform and use these lands for our needs.

Madam Speaker, my colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, the unfunded mandates on

agriculture need to be solved. We have power over the purse. We are representatives of
the people. We are elected and our principals are our constituents. Perhaps, the
appointed officials fail to comprehend why we insist, why we question, why there is
dissent and compromise. We do not stand to disagree; we stand to offer alternative
options. Let it be said that, we are not alter egos of anybody.

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 Office of
Rep. JACK ENRILE
1st District Representative, Province of Cagayan
S-401 Congress Building Complex, Constitution Hills, Quezon City
Phone: 931-5001 local 7242, 931-6621; Email: jack.enrile@gmail.com

So Madam Speaker, my colleagues, let this be a clarion call for fiscal year 2011 to this
administration, I will fight for the funding of agriculture mandates. There has got to be
a resolution on this issue. We pass laws and yet the executive does not want to fund the
measures passed. Isn’t this a failure of representative government? We are collectively
responsible for the laws we passed. A bill cannot be a law unless signed by the
President.

Madam Speaker, my colleagues: Walang Pilipino ang dapat magutom sa sariling

bayan. Siguro naman po maiintindihan tayo ng ating mga kaibigan sa ibang bansa.
The future of the Philippines is not subject to negotiations. Food for Filipinos, yes! And
then…and only then, can we talk of trade. Madam Speaker, my colleagues, the currency
war shows each country to his own. Bakit tayo, para parati nalang sa iba?

Nananawagan po ako sa ating Pangulo at ang mga kalihim ng agrikultura at trade &
industry na manindigan naman at manawagan para sa patas na labanan at
kumpetensiya sa larangan ng international trade sa dalawang punto:

Una: Pagbawalan ang export subsidies – mura ang produktong agrikultural ng mga
maunlad na bansa dahil nakakatanggap ang kanilang mga magsasaka ng
malalaking subsidies mula sa kanilang pamahalaan.

Pangalawa: Lumikha ng international regulations hinggil sa mga transnational

corporations at Intellectual Property Rights. Dahil napanghahawakan ng mga
transnational corporations ang Intellectual Property Rights ng mga seed at plant
varieties, kumikitid po ang larangan ng pagkilos ng mga magsasaka natin sa
developing countries na hindi kayang bilhin ng kanilang teknolohiya.

Madam Speaker, my colleagues, allow me to quote Jean Paul-Sartre for our trading
partners, “when the rich wage war, it is the poor who die.”

To our leaders, let me leave you with Confucius, who once said: “In a country well
governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is
something to be ashamed of.”

I hope one day when I look back to this day, 6 December 2010, before my mentors, my
colleagues and friends, I can say that it wasn’t too late and I took that step, made a stand
for the Filipinos so in my lifetime hunger and poverty could be mitigated.

Mabuhay ang Pilipino!

Marami pong salamat sa inyong lahat.

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