PBBM appoints new FTI board members

The Board of Directors of Food Terminal Inc. now consists of acting members approved by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Atty. Christopher Bañas is designated as the officer-in-charge of the Office of the Executive Director of the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office IV.

Among those also installed on the FTI board are Telma Cueva Tolentino, Marissa Jimenez Caldoza, Stanley Sy Chona, Raul Edmund Barcelon Felix, and Sheldon Gonzales Jacaban.

“The last four appointees to the FTI board are the replacements of directors Angelito Garcia, Marian Luis Versoza Jr., Maria Theresa Teves-Castanos, and Robert Tan.”

FTI is a government-owned and controlled corporation that is engaged in the wholesale of selected commodities to aid food producers and exporters and also handles the retail of basic food items to the general public at its Kadiwa Centers.

This was also the first home of the Kadiwa Center when it was established on 14 April 1980.

Last January, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. pledged to increase cold storage facilities in the country dedicated to stockpiling agricultural produce to address oversupply and minimize post-harvest wastage.

"The immediate problem I see is the oversupply from time to time of tomatoes and cabbage,” he said in a briefing at FTI. “So we should build storage at FTI immediately. My direction is to build a network for chilled cold storage systems.”

Hence, the construction of a chiller equipped with a processing plant and trading area in the said corporation is in the works.

The prospect facility will also prioritize farmers’ products for buffer stocking.