In his keynote speech during the 25th North Luzon Area Business Conference (NLABC) of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Senator Francis N. Pangilinan emphasized the role of agriculture and industry in economic development and the interplay between them.

“Once the agriculture sector becomes vibrant, the economy becomes stable and development becomes continuous,” said the newly installed Chairman of the Senate Committee on agriculture and food.

The Senator, who served as the presidential assistant on food security and agricultural modernization under the Aquino administration, expressed his appreciation to PCCI for giving premium on agriculture in its economic agenda.

PCCI has recently drafted its economic and governance reform program called GIANT STEPS which stands for Good governance, Infrastructures, Agriculture, New era in manufacturing, and Tourism through Science and Technology, Education, People skills, and Sources of financing.

“GIANT STEPS fits North Luzon as it is a major food basket, producing rice, corn, coffee, a variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as marine products,” averred Sen. Pangilinan.

Addressing the members of the PCCI, Sen. Pangilinan elaborated on why agriculture is important to entrepreneurs like them. He stated that if farmers and fisherfolk have more incomes, they will have a better capacity to purchase basic needs and necessities and even vehicles and other luxury goods.

According to him, this is not a far-fetched idea. Citing Thailand’s case, Sen. Pangilinan said that because of better incomes, some farmers in this country are now able to buy vehicles.

“Their vehicle of choice is the 4×4 pick-up. Naturally, car manufacturers are going overdrive to produce more pick-ups because of the high demand,” he explained.

He added that according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 67% of the Philippines’ labor force is directly or indirectly employed by agriculture. This means that two-thirds of the country’s workers are in agriculture-related jobs.

“Kung tumaas ang kita ng ating labor force, makakabili na sila ng mga material na bagay tulad ng cell phones, computers, mga sasakyan, o kaya simpleng rubber shoes at iba pa (If the income of our labor force increases, they will be able to buy material things such as cell phones, computers, vehicles, or even simple rubber shoes and many more),” the Senator continued.

“Because of this, our factories will need to produce more and will need to hire more workers,” he pointed out. “What does this translate to? A huge portion of our labor force will no longer need to work overseas because local employment is now available.”

He then encouraged the members of the PCCI to be active advocates in helping those in the agriculture sector increase their incomes.

“If we are to reach a developed nation status in the next 10 years, we have to energize our agriculture and agriculture enterprise development,” he stressed. “Our economy will, thus, become more vibrant just because our farmers and fisherfolk have more buying power.”#