Legarda unveils plan for job creation in the countryside

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Loren Legarda today unveiled her plan to create more jobs in the countryside by stepping up investments in agriculture and effectively implementing the laws she has authored as senator. 

“To achieve true progress in the country, we have to make sure that no one is left behind. Inequality is at its worst in the provinces, where ironically, the growers of our food, our farmers and fishers, are the first to grow hungry. That’s why the first step in eradicating poverty must be taken in the rural areas,” she said.

Legarda urged for more investments in agriculture, which she intends to execute if she becomes vice president. “My game plan is to open up more markets, provide more access to credit, and extend to our farmers and fisherfolk adequate technical and financial support.”

She stressed the importance of equipping farmers and fishers with skills in adapting to climate change. “Our farmers and fishers are among the most vulnerable to climate change, because their livelihood is directly affected by extreme weather changes. Floods and drought both damage crops and diminish fish catch,” she added.

She emphasized the need to provide alternative sources of income and social safety nets for rural folk, through the implementation of the laws she has authored in the Senate.

“We already have the Amendment to the Agri Agra Law which provides more loanable funds to farmers; we have the Barangay Kabuhayan Act which establishes livelihood and skills training centers in the fourth, fifth and sixth class municipalities to open employment opportunities; and we have the the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Act which strengthens the small and medium enterprises. I have authored these laws to raise the quality of life of every Filipino, and I now intend to make sure that they get implemented properly,” Legarda said.