Marcos tasks DA to boost ties with farmer cooperatives

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. tasked the Department of Agriculture to closely work with the Cooperative Development Authority and boost ties with farmers' cooperatives.

Marcos said this as he led the inauguration of the Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative (SIDC) Grains Terminal and Trading Project in Batangas on Thursday.

''Kaya inatasan ko ang DA na makipag-ugnayan sa CDA, Cooperative Development Authority, para patibayin, palakasin ang mga kooperatiba ng ating mga magsasaka,'' Marcos said in his speech.

(I have tasked the DA to work with the CDA, Cooperative Development Authority, to strengthen cooperatives of our farmers.)

''Gaya ng SIDC, tutulungan natin ang mga kooperatibang ito upang magkaroon ng mga makabagong makinarya [at] mga post-harvest facilities upang mapataas ang kanilang ani at ang kanilang kita,'' he added.

(Just like the SIDC, we will help these cooperatives so that our farmers will have new machineries and post-harvest facilities to improve their produce and profit.)

Marcos said his administration aims to consolidate and organize all farmers into cooperatives, farmers groups, and all kinds of organizations.

''If you are only one person, you have only one voice. You build a cooperative. A cooperative that is working well together, that is managed well, such as SIDC,'' Marcos said.

At the start of his presidency, Marcos called on Congress to amend the laws governing fisheries and cooperatives in the Philippines.

The President had emphasized that the government’s quest for food security is guided by “science and the balance of nature,” in a bid to make food production “both sustainable and responsible, benefiting both this and future generations.”

Marcos had said that in amending the Cooperative Code, the cooperatives will have stronger production capacity and market force. —VAL, GMA Integrated News