ECONOMIC BRIEFING. Economic stakeholders in the Ilocos Region attend a briefing in Laoag City participated in by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s top economic managers on Monday (Aug. 14, 2023). Part of the discussion was the goal of maintaining the country’s economic growth over the next fiscal year by prioritizing various expenditures in the 2024 national budget to support the Marcos administration's economic agenda. (PNA photo by Leilanie G. Adriano)
LAOAG CITY – Farmers and entrepreneurs in the province of Ilocos Norte rejoiced on Monday as President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s economic team visited this city and gave updates to local business and finance communities on the administration's economic agenda.
Suerte Mia Soriano, owner of Lucky Theo’s Food Products from Banna, Ilocos Norte who attended the briefing along with other owners of micro, small and medium enterprises, said the panelists provided inspiring insights about the country’s economic agenda to propel growth and development, with topics ranging from the high-growth trajectory and socio-economic transformation to the “Build Better More” Program.
“Truly, the agriculture sector is the key to prosperity and us in the micro, small and medium enterprises must be empowered for tourism growth. All are interconnected to achieve economic transformation toward inclusivity and sustainability,” Soriano said during the event held at the Fort Ilocandia Resort.
On the part of the business sector, Cherry Bareng-Asistin, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ilocos Norte, said the spoilage of agriculture products remains a big challenge for farmers due to a lack of big-scale production, processing and manufacturing businesses.
“Our agriculture and fishery products are not being maximized due to lack of storage facilities to prolong their shelf life,” Bareng said, adding that this must be addressed to achieve a sectoral impact.
During the economic briefing, the Philippine government’s top economic managers discussed their goal of maintaining the country’s economic growth over the next fiscal year by prioritizing various expenditures in the 2024 national budget that will support the economic agenda of the Marcos administration.
The economic team highlighted the administration’s goal of achieving continued economic growth by allocating more financial resources and focusing government spending on areas that will boost economic activity in the country, including the convergence of all sectors, such as business and finance, information and communications technology, energy, transportation, public works, agriculture, labor and employment, tourism, trade and industry.
The briefing was attended by Cabinet secretaries and undersecretaries, as well as members of the Economic Development Group , consisting of the Department of Finance, Department of Budget and Management, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and National Economic and Development Authority, among others.
In pushing for economic recovery and rapid economic growth and expansion in the coming years, farmer-producers and entrepreneurs here have noted the continuing government support in terms of helping them boost their production and market their products.
“Kailangan din i-improve ang mga daan para mapabilis ang pagdadala ng mga produkto sa merkado (We also need to improve our roads to speed up the transport of goods to the market),” said Agnes Asuncion, a lady farmer and food processor in Currimao town who also attended the briefing.
In the Ilocos Region, several big-ticket projects in irrigation system, transportation, digitalization of the infrastructure highway, and clean energy initiatives are in the pipeline to sustain economic growth.
For example, the Laoag International Airport is expanding its runway to 205 meters east and 170 meters west from the center lane to accommodate bigger aircraft.
This covers a total of 58.4752 hectares of land, which is being secured by the Ilocos Norte government with the affected landowners.
Once fully completed, local officials here are hoping for the revival of international and regional flights at the airport, including those between this city and Honolulu, Hawaii, as well as between Laoag and Cebu.
Farmers also said they were looking forward to the completion of the Ilocos Norte-Ilocos Sur-Abra Irrigation Project (INISAIP) with more than PHP25.7 billion in approved funding to irrigate more than 14,000 hectares of farmlands in the three provinces once completed.
In an earlier interview, NIA administrator Eduardo Guillen said the INISAIP project being implemented closely with the departments of public works and agriculture, as well as other concerned government agencies, would address water shortage by constructing high dams that would be used not only for irrigation but also for power, flood control and aquaculture projects.
Over the years, Ilocos farmers, particularly in the second district of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, have been experiencing water shortages to irrigate their farmlands due to a lack of irrigation facilities. (PNA)
