PRECIOUS GRAINS A farmer harvests “kintoman,” an heirloom rice variety, grown in the fields of Maligcong village in Bontoc town, Mt. Province. (EV ESPIRITU)
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. stressed the need to have better coordination between the national and local government when it comes to food supply, saying a “bahala na kayo” mentality cannot be allowed.
Marcos issued the statement during his meeting with the members of the League of Provinces of the Philippines on Thursday, according to a Palace press release shared to the media on Friday.
“We have to coordinate our efforts on food supply. We cannot just allow ‘bahala na kayo’,” Marcos was quoted as saying during the meeting.
Further, Marcos stressed the importance of planning, saying it will give the idea of the provinces’ cropping schedules, yield, soil problems, and use of fertilizer.
“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 (Before, agriculture), for example, was really under the national government,” Marcos said.
Marcos currently serves as the concurrent secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
Strengthen coordination in digitalization
Marcos also sought a stronger coordination between the local and national government in terms of digitalization.
“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,” Marcos was also quoted as saying during the meeting.
(A lot of you have been progressive and even surpassed the national government. Now, we have to bring the system together. The information held by a province or an agency has to be accessible 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,” the President added.
In his first State of the Nation Address, Marcos committed to the delivery of 30 million physical and 20 million digital National IDs by the end of 2022.
Marcos said his administration aims to accomplish the issuance of 92 million National IDs by 2023.