Reason & Concern

by Ronquillo C. Tolentino

Food Sovereignty

Rep. Jack Enrile, 1st district representative of the province of Cagayan, expounded on his concept of food sovereignty when he was at the Northwestern Visayan Colleges RSQ Building on May 28, 2011 as guest of media and civic sectors.

Congressman Enrile is probing himself not only as a worthy son of a distinguished father but (also) a congressman who can stand on his own as an outstanding and independent congressman and ventilate certain issues of national concern and importance.

Enrile stressed the need for a paradigm shift in the way we define our agriculture and trade policies.

Early in the morning of May 28, 2011 in a radio interview over RGMA-DYRU Kalibo, he emphasized the need for food sovereignty. In a privilege speech on December 6, 2010, titled "Should We Be Producers For Others Or Consumers Of Others?" He defined food sovereignty as the "right of peoples, communities and countries to define their own agricultural, labor, fishing, food and land policies, which are ecologically, socially, economically, and culturally appropriate to their unique circumstances.　

It includes the true right to food and produce food, which means that all people have the right to safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food and to food producing resource and the ability to sustain themselves and their societies. Enrile refers on the other hand to food security as "the availability of food and one’s access to it. A household is considered food-secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation!"

Enrile sought all his congressional colleagues to join his crusade for a comprehensive framework against poverty and hunger on seven (7) main points. Enrile advocates to prioritize agricultural infrastructure, ensure access to low interest credit to farmers, fisherfolks and farm workers, remove all subsidies on export oriented agriculture and transfer the subsidies to grains and vegetable farmers and livestock growers, launch an effective and strong campaign against smuggling and dumping of food and agri-based products and commodities that could be supplied by our own local products, reclaim our original strength on agricultural research and scientific breakthrough, strengthen NFA as a state trading enterprise that protects our farmers and fisherfolks from predatory elements and break all land monopolies as government implements the last phase of land reform and use these lands for our needs.

In his thrust for food sovereignty, Congressman Enrile also seeks that our export and import policies as a nation shall be adjusted to what is needed by our people first before we send our raw materials and produce to other nations. /MP