Escudero pushes reversion of farm services to national gov‘t

Senate President Francis Escudero —Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Francis Escudero has renewed his proposal to revert to the national government some agricultural services that were devolved to local governments in 1991.

Escudero, in a recent meeting with stakeholders of the agriculture sector, noted the gaping disconnect between vital national programs and the resources of local governments.

The Senate President noted that agricultural policies and priorities also change more frequently at the local government level, assuming that local officials do have the skills and resources to implement complicated programs.

“There are inconsistencies in the implementation of programs and policies that affect the agriculture sector in each locality,” the senator said.

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“If you have someone with a background as a farmer then you can expect policies in favor of the sector, otherwise, there is no guarantee that their interests would be prioritized,” Escudero said in a statement.

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Since 1998, when he first served as representative of the first district of Sorsogon, Escudero has filed bills to revert agricultural services to the national government.

Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991, devolved agricultural and health services to local governments as part of move to provide them with greater autonomy.

Through the years, however, there have been growing gaps in the implementation of agricultural services, particularly in local governments with limited resources.

Escudero said feedback from the stakeholders of the agriculture sector during consultations conducted in the course of the review of the implementation of the LGC over the years showed a strong desire to renationalize agricultural services.

He said this prompted him to file bills to make this happen.

The passage of several laws related to the development of the agriculture sector over the years, including Republic Act No. 8435, or the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997, necessitates the DA’s full administrative control and supervision over all personnel in the field who are involved in agriculture and fishery.

“Agricultural extension workers or the people in the field could be better utilized to support the renewed push to revitalize the agriculture sector,” he said.

“I hope the administration would consider the renationalization of the agriculture sector again as a solution so that all agricultural programs would be under the supervision of the secretary,” he added.