Marcos wants improved ties between nat'l gov't, LGUs to ensure food security

There is a need to improve coordination mechanisms between the national and local government units to ensure a strengthened food supply production and distribution, according to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

"We have to coordinate our efforts on food supply. We cannot just allow 'bahala na kayo,'” Marcos said during his meeting with members of the League of Provinces of the Philippines on Thursday.

“But this has to be part of a plan, and that is why, more than ever, the President needs the help of the governors. Dati, ang agriculture, for example, was really under the national government,” he added.

In his first State of the Nation Address, Marcos, who also sits as Agriculture chief, emphasized the need to fix the value chain in order to address short- and long-term problems in the agriculture sector.

Marcos said he believes that problems in food supply would result in higher prices of commodities and insufficiency

Marcos also underscored the importance of planning, saying it will give the idea of the provinces’ cropping schedules, yield, soil problems, and the use of fertilizer.

He also said he wants an improved coordination in the field of digitalization as he mentioned that provinces have done a better job than the national government in this area.

“Marami sa inyong medyo progressive, inunahan niyo na ang national government. Now, we have to bring the system together. Kailangan ‘yung information na hawak ng isang probinsya, ng isang agency, accessible doon sa kabila as long as they have authorization,” he said.

(A lot of you are more progressive in thinking than the national government in this area. It is important that the information held by one province, by one agency, is accessible by others as long as they have authorization.)

“We have to be literally interconnected. So that’s another area where we are hoping that we can strengthen the cooperation – the planning, the coordination between national government and local government.” —Anna Felicia Bajo/KBK, GMA News