Ping Lacson pushes for law providing scholarship for agriculture students

MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan— Administration senatorial candidate Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is proposing a scholarship program for agriculture students, similar to the “Doktor Para sa Bayan” medical scholarship program. 

“Ako ang isang legislative proposal ko ‘yong parang in the mold of Doktor para sa Bayan… ‘yong ‘Kabataang Magsasaka’ naman kung saan medyo i-level up natin ‘yong technology sa agriculture,” Lacson said during the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas press conference here. 

(A legislative proposal I hope to make isin the mold of Doctors for the Nation… it would be ‘Youth Farmers’ this time where we will level up agriculture technology.)

Believing this will boost the agriculture sector in the country, Lacson noted the college programs in the University of the Philippines Los Baños for agriculture. 

“Ayaw pumasok sa mga subject or mga kurso tungkol sa agriculture kasi nakagisnan na natin na kapag magsasaka mahirap, hindi ba? So dapat siguro baguhin natin ‘yong mindset pero gawin nating medyo high tech ‘yong ating pagsasaka,” he said. 

“Hindi ‘yong all traditional na may araro, may kalabaw, napag-iwanan na tayo doon. So sa ibang bansa lalo sa Europe, kapagmagsasaka mayaman. Sa atin lang ‘yong kapag magsasaka, associated sa kahirapan. So kailangan nating pagbutihin ‘yon o baguhin natin ‘yong mindset sa pamamagitan siguro ng… scholarship program para sa sakahan,” he said. 

(“Many don’t want to take up subjects or courses on agriculture since there is a perception that farmers are poor, right? So perhaps we should change this mindset but we do it in a high tech way for agriculture.

Not the all traditional plow and carabao, we have been left behind.In other countries such as those in Europe, farmers are well off Here if you are a farmer you’re thought of as poor.. So we need to improve or change this mindset through a… scholarship program for agriculture.) 

Senatorial candidate Vicente “Tito” Sotto III also stressed the need to prioritize the agriculture sector in the country, especially amid the free trade agreements across the world that affect the economy of the Philippines. 

Meanwhile, Lacson and Sotto highlighted the importance of choosing the right chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture to ensure that the proposed National Land Use Act will be enacted. 

“Ang ilagay nating chairman ng committee na mag-sponsor o mag-defend ng bills tungkol sa land use ay yong talagang may malasakit sa pagpapaayos ng land use ng buong Pilipinas,” Lacson said. 

(The chairman of the committee who would sponsor or defend bills on land use should be passionate for the issue on a nationwide level.) 

Sotto echoed this sentiment, “Importante ang pagpili ng chairman ng committee na ha-handle no’n para maasikaso. Both houses not only the Senate but also in the House of Representatives.” 

(The selection of the chairman of this committee is important in order for it to be properly handled.)

If enacted into law, the National Land Use Act would provide a framework for the proper utilization and management of land resources in the country.

The bill would also create the National Land Use Commission, which will be the highest policy-making body that will handle the management and planning of land use and resolve land use policy conflicts.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has identified the National Land Use Act as one of the priorities of his administration’s legislative agenda during his first State of the Nation Address in 2022.

The bill was approved on third reading at the House of Representatives in May 2023. However, it remains pending at the committee level at the Senate.

The Senate committee on agriculture is currently chaired by outgoing Senator Cynthia Villar. —RF, GMA Integrated News

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