Former Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel “Manny” Piñol said he is running for senator to prevent another six years of anti-agriculture policies that put emphasis on importation and dependence on foreign sources of food.
Piñol, who is running for senator under the Nationalist People’s Coalition under the ticket of presidential candidate Panfilo Lacson, turned over seedlings of 500 giant bamboo and 70 jackfruit trees to Negros Occidental through Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Wednesday, November 24.
Lacson said the turnover is very timely because the provincial government is propagating bamboo for the province’s watersheds.
The governor said he is definitely supporting Piñol’s run for senator and encouraging Negrenses to vote for him, because of his advocacy for agriculture.
“Personally I think he is good material for the Senate, especially since he represents agriculture,” Lacson said.
Piñol said President Rodrigo Duterte has also endorsed his Senate run and has adopted him as a PDP Laban senatorial bet.
When he was agriculture secretary he told the president that the proposal to liberalize the sugar industry will do irreversible damage to Philippine agriculture, Piñol said.
“Somebody has to stand up for agriculture”, he said, pointing out that he has always emphasized self-sufficiency and support for local industries.
He said the high prices of fertilizer need to be addressed by the government, and he is hoping that it will lead to the development of a local organic fertilizer industry.
“In the long run it will provide our people with healthier food, “Piñol said.
There is a current threat in the price of food worldwide, even in the United States, he said.
If the Philippines is not self-sufficient and is dependent on importation it will be affected “that is why it is important to produce our own,” he said.*