MANILA, August 14, 2012-Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan calls on the government anew to help build and establish strategically located trading centers that would help raise incomes of local farmers and fisherfolk while providing consumers easy access to low-cost food.
“While we would rather see the Food Terminal Incorporated be restored to fulfill its original intent, we laud the government's commitment to plow back to the agriculture sector the proceeds of this sale. We must also ensure that our countrymen are given access to low-cost food especially during the wet season. Establishing several strategically located trading centers will help in this endeavor.”
Pangilinan, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, has been working to raise the incomes of the country's farmers and fisherfolk, as he believes that it reduces the stranglehold of middlemen and unscrupulous traders. He says that trading centers will provide farmers and fisherfolk ready market for their goods.
“The establishment of strategically located trading centers becomes even more crucial as climate change wreaks havoc on our agricultural lands and fish pens. It would serve the best interest of our farmers and fisherfolk if they are able to send out their harvest the soonest possible time to a trading center with modern cold storage facilities. These would also help to ensure food security especially whenever devastating storms and floods hit the country.”
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