Salceda: Measures for agri, inflation, jobs must be addressed in Bongbong Marcos’ Sona

MANILA, Philippines — The administration’s plans to counter problems in agriculture, inflation, and the lack of jobs should be the focus of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first State of the Nation Address (Sona), Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda said on Wednesday.

During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, Salceda said he agrees that the top concern must be agriculture, especially with most of the country’s food products being imported — and with local produce finding it hard to match up due to higher costs of production.

Salceda, an economist by profession, gave local chicken as an example: according to the lawmaker, locally-grown chicken appeared thin because the prices of corn increased by 50 percent — which affected the poultry industry that uses corn as a feed for their livestock.

“Ang pinaka problema natin diyan ay pagkain, halos lahat ng pagkain natin ay kulang at imported, asukal, imported na […] May chicken tayo pero malnourished– malnourished po ang chicken natin ngayon dahil ang presyo po ng corn ay tumaas na, 50 percent,” he said.

“So I think he has to address that, that’s why he is the DA secretary. So ang dami, every single commodity in the agricultural sector I think has reached some problem — bananas, pineapples, even bawang, sibuyas, everything — I think he has to confront that. Agriculture is number one in his slate, in fact, food is number one in his slate,” he added.

Next among the things Marcos should prioritize is inflation, although Salceda admitted that a considerable bulk of the country’s higher inflation rate is due to foreign movements.

“Pero yung inflation natin is 84 percent imported. So yung pagtaas ng interest rate sa US (United States), we will see the prices of oil — kasi kalahati po ng pag-angat ng inflation ay dahil po sa pagputok po ng presyo ng langis,” he said.

“So malaking problema po yan satin dahil napakalaki po ng ating imports na sa pagkain. In 2021, last year, we imported 50 trillion kilos of plants. So napakalaki po nyan. Plants, katulad ng rice, plants– hindi pa nyan kasama yung fish, hindi pa nyan kasama yung pork, hindi pa po niyan kasama yung beef. So, napakarami,” he added.

As for creating jobs, Salceda believes if the government creates a national broadband system that will speed up the digitalization of businesses, it will boost companies and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), enabling them to create more jobs.

“So number 3 ang kailangan niya will be restoration of jobs, new work, new jobs, stronger jobs. So diyan papasok yung sinasabi ko kanina na structural reforms ni President Duterte, at the same time, suporta sa SMMEs,” he said.

“Ang suggestion ko po kay President Bongbong Marcos ay magkaroon po ng National Broadband, isa sa pinaka historical state ng Pilipinas is the hullabaloo we had with the NBSAP bill, it was only 7 million. Now if we had that NBSAP bill, the national broadband, we would have a stronger SMMEs,” he added.

Marcos is set to deliver his first Sona on Monday, over three weeks since he was inaugurated as the country’s 17th President.

On Monday, Leyte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez — the President’s cousin on the maternal side — said that he did not want to preempt the speech of Marcos, but believes the president will put priority on the 2023 national budget, which is the first budget under his watch.

Earlier, House Secretary General Mark Mendoza said they are ready to hold the Sona, with minor issues being ironed out. The newly renovated plenary hall is also expected to hold more people than previous iterations of the Sona. With reports from Christine Annie Asistio, INQUIRER.net trainee

RELATED STORIES

Romualdez eyes House approval of 2023 nat’l budget before year ends

READ: Malacañang wants simpler, traditional Sona, says House SecGen