True to his battle cry, “Hello Pagkain, Goodbye Gutom”, former Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan remains steadfast in advocating for Filipino farmers and fisherfolk — a sector he believes has been neglected for decades.

Pangilinan, a farmer himself, stressed the need to support farmers and fisherfolk, whom he identifies as not only the backbone of the nation’s economy but also key in addressing the country's food security challenges.

“Poverty and hunger go together. Food in the Philippines is so expensive. Some are saying: ‘Well, it’s worldwide.’ It may be worldwide because of inflation, but it is the reason why the prices of chicken and pork are double here compared to Thailand and Vietnam?” he said.

Citing national expenditures for agriculture of nations in the region, Pangilinan explained the correlation between government support and output.

“Because we have not prioritized agriculture and fisheries the way they have. Thailand spends double on its agriculture. Vietnam’s budget for agriculture is three times larger than ours,” he said.

“About the expenditure for agriculture, we are doing about P3 billion. Looking at the output, Indonesia is exporting about P51 billion worth of agricultural exports annually. We’re only doing P7 billion,” he added.

Pangilinan also pointed out that one of the root causes of the nation’s weakening agriculture sector is the widening income gap among farmers, leading to a dwindling workforce in the fields.

With the average age of Filipino farmers at 57, he noted that the younger generation is increasingly reluctant to take up farming as a viable livelihood.

“This is a challenge that Vietnam, Thailand and even China have addressed by focusing on interventions to improve income,” he explained.

“We need to make farming profitable and sustainable so farmers will stop abandoning their lands and selling them off.”

At the core of Pangilinan’s vision for revitalizing the sector is Republic Act 11321, also known as the Sagip Saka Act, which he authored in 2019.

The law facilitates direct government procurement from farmers and fisherfolk organizations, bypassing middlemen and ensuring fairer compensation for food producers.

“When farmers earn more, the benefits ripple through the local economy,” he said. “It’s not just about food security; it’s about strengthening the entire community — from sari-sari stores to transportation services, even banks.”

If he gets the vote, Pangilinan vows to craft more measures to address food security and support agricultural workers. For him, the fight for farmers is more than a policy priority — it’s a personal mission.

“How do we continue to develop solutions that ensure food security while raising farmers’ incomes? That’s the question I want to answer as I revisit these issues,” he said.

As the Philippines grapples with rising food prices and the effects of climate change, his call to action is more relevant than ever: empowering food producers is a crucial step toward eradicating hunger and poverty.

His Senate comeback bid will be anchored on ensuring food security, he explained.

“This was my original plan, especially now that the people's biggest concern is the rising cost of food. The high prices of goods are a major issue, and as shown in our track record, we have addressed this through proper management of food, particularly rice,” Pangilinan said.

One of his advocacies that relates to food security was to combat rice smuggling which the Senate investigated on several occasions.

He also said that bringing down the cost of basic goods such as rice is possible through agricultural reform.

“We have the ability to lower the price of rice, but achieving this requires comprehensive reforms in both agriculture and aquaculture. These reforms must include significantly increasing the budget for the agriculture sector, potentially doubling or even tripling it, to ensure the resources needed for modernization, sustainability, and efficiency are in place,” he emphasized.

Injecting allure into farms

Thus the law seeks to make farming “sexy” through, among others, increasing budget support for farm enterprises and thus raising income from farms that would help encourage young Filipinos to work in the agricultural sector.

“Just like any industry, if the sector does not yield enough profit or income, the youth will not be interested, so it is important.”

Pangilinan said the budgeting for the Department of Agriculture should be patterned after the Department of Public Works and Highways which has a budget that has increased over the years.

“That is what should happen in agriculture, where there will be five to seven times more funding in the next six to 10 years so the support for agri enterprise is good, the income and profit will increase so the youth will be encouraged to join the farming industry,” he added.

Pangilinan also shared the story of a cooperative that benefited from the law by having direct rice purchases by the local government units that contributed to an increase in their year-end sales amounting to P60 million.

“If an enterprise has a profit of P6 million a month, I believe the youth will be interested,” he pointed out.

The law mandated the government to purchase goods directly from fishermen and farmers for their various programs.

Pangilinan previously said that he is eyeing to address food security in his Senate comeback bid.

He also mentioned that what made him run again for senator in the 2025 elections was the public’s clamor to address the food security problem.