VP Leni thanks agri group for supporting presidential bid

[English Version]

Vice President Leni Robredo expressed gratitude to the Alyansa Agrikultura for supporting her presidential bid in the May 2022 elections, as she vowed to give the agriculture sector the attention it deserves from national government to achieve growth and development.

“We thank the Alyansa Agrikultura for giving your full support to our candidacy. Our journey is becoming stronger by the day because of each one of you. It is our people’s campaign that will truly give our country a better future,” said Robredo, who gained a strong second standing in the most recent Pulse Asia survey.

On Christmas Day, Alyansa Agrikultura announced that it was backing Robredo’s presidential bid, the first time that the group openly supported a presidential candidate since its founding in 2003.

In a statement, Arsenio Tanchuling, Alyansa Agrikultura president, said that with the current agriculture crisis, the group decided to “divert” from its non-partisan stand for the past 18 years and back Robredo for president.

“We believe Leni Robredo, with her commitment to participatory governance and proven performance track record, is the best candidate for president. She will give agriculture, as well as the neglected and exploited farmers and fisherfolk, the necessary bright future it has been denied for so long and now fully deserves,” Tanchuling said.

In a meeting with the agriculture sector stakeholders at the Agri 2022 Online Forum in November, Robredo committed to double the agriculture budget and review its allocation in the first year of her presidency.

Robredo said that climate-resilient crops and other agriculture sub-sectors must be given enough resources to harness their potentials. She emphasized that the agricultural sector is a significant “employment opportunity giver” if government develops and focuses on it.

“Agriculture is the number one employment opportunity giver kapag inasikaso lang natin, ” Robredo said at the AGRI 2022 Online Forum last November 29.

“Ang ating pag-asa talaga agriculture, kasi iyon talaga iyong pinagkukunan ng kabuhayan ng marami. Kung tututukan lang natin, maraming mga Pilipino iyong maaalis sa poverty level,” she said.

At the forum, former Agriculture and Trade and Industry undersecretary Ernest Ordoñez acknowledged Robredo’s vision and plans for the sector.

“We want to thank you, Vice President Robredo, because you not only showed us your direction, you showed us the detail in the direction because of your actual experience with poor farmers and fisherfolk,” Ordoñez said. [End]