The planned construction of the Clark National Food Hub is now being fast-tracked following the signing of agreements between the DA and Food Terminal Inc. covering funding, development and operations, and between FTI and Clark International Airport Corp. covering around 40 hectares at the Clark Aviation Capital in Pampanga, with provisions for future expansion.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. has directed FTI president Joseph Lo and Agriculture Undersecretary Arrey Perez to have the Mega Food Hub partially operational before the end of 2027.

Tiu Laurel cited Perez’s previous experience helping develop New Clark City, including its road network and key buildings delivered ahead of schedule, to help keep the food hub on its accelerated timeline.

The hub will bring together food aggregation, storage, processing, distribution and marketing in one integrated system. Planned facilities include food and cold-storage facilities, processing areas, food safety laboratories, export processing facilities, and wholesale and retail spaces.

The DA chief said the project is intended to close a critical gap between farm production and markets, where inefficient logistics erode farmers’ earnings, discourage private investments, and increase costs for consumers.

“We cannot build a modern agriculture sector if our farmers can produce more but cannot get their products to markets efficiently and profitably,” Tiu Laurel said. “Today, we give this project the foundation to move from paper to pavement.”

The DA chief said the Mega Food Hub is central to Marcos’ vision of a more modern and food-secure Philippine agriculture sector.

“And this is more than just a campaign promise. For President Marcos, it is a covenant with the Filipino people, especially those who feed the nation every day,” he said.

Lo said preparations have been underway since last year, including the recruitment of a dedicated team focused exclusively on designing how the facility will operate.

The team has studied food hub models and logistics practices abroad, traveling to Thailand, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Japan to examine best practices that could be adapted to the Philippine setting.

FTI will operate, manage, and maintain the facility, with a mandate to make it efficient and sustainable. The DA will oversee project implementation and construction monitoring.