Mr. President, first I thank the Chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, Senator Loren Legarda, and also the previous Chairman of the Committee, Senator Angara, during whose time as Chair of the Committee when we started conducting hearing on this bill and who is now the Chair of the other Committee submitting the measure, the Committee on the Finance, for allowing this humble representation to sponsor the measure.

Mr. President, I am honored to sponsor Committee Report no. 408 on the Senate Bill No. 3264 or An Act Providing for the Development and Promotion of Organic Agriculture in the Philippines And For Other Purpose jointly submitted by  the Chairperson and the members of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, and Committee on Finance.

In 2007, the Philippines imported a total of around 1.1 million metric tons of fertilizers and produced locally another 200 thousand metric tons or a total of 1.3 million metric tons of synthetic fertilizer used or sold in the country in 2007. If the average price of fertilizer is P13./kilo, this would  amount to about P16.9 billion pesos. That’s how big the fertilizer industry is. This does not include our use and importation of pesticides and herbicides.

Mr. President, a lot of medical and scientific studies have confirmed that synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides being used in the agricultural sector are the leading cause of many disease such as pesticide poisoning, birth defects, brain tumors, breast cancer, prostate cancer, brain cancers and other forms of cancer, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, fertility problems, dermal or skin disease and many other types of diseases.

In the Philippines, many documented cases of deaths and the diseases earlier mentioned are due to pesticide poisoning, inhalation and contact with synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides used in the agriculture sector and eating of food laced with fertilizers, pesticide and herbicides especially in fruits and vegetables.

In short, Mr. President, the synthetic fertilizer and pesticide-laced food that that we eat are killing us softly. It is a slow and painful death. Some of our colleagues in this August chamber are known vegetarians. I just hope that the vegetables they eat are organically grown as I could not bear the sight of them getting sick from the pesticide-laced vegetables and fruits, especially if they are Tita Jamby and Tita Loren.

The health risks to our citizens are just the other side of the ill effects of the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and molluscides in the agriculture sector. The other side Mr. President is its bad effect on the environment, especially in the condition of our soil, and pollution or contamination of our water system from farm run-offs.

Pesticide run-off is one of the most significant effects of pesticide use. It leaches into our ground-water reservoir thus contaminating our potable water, as well as our bodies of water such as streams, river, seas and into the ocean, thus poisoning our fishes and other marine creatures which are part of the food chain. These pesticide contaminated fishes and seafoods will eventually end in our dinner tables, thus posing great health risk to our people, especially the most vulnerable our young and senior citizens.

Masanobu Fukuoka, a Ramon Magsaysay awardee for natural organic agriculture says, “Farmers do not produce the food of life. Farmers merely assist nature. The real farmer is the soil.” Healthy soils equals healthy food equals healthy people is the basic tenet of the organic farming systems. Thus, restoring the health of our soil is restoring health to our people.
We know that the senate of the web of life is greatly affected by man’s activities. The health of our soil, water, crops, and livestock, farmers and consumers are interconnected. It is now the time to allow our farmers to implement science-based practices that in turn help our environment rehabilitate and regenerate to yield healthful produce. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement  (IFOAM) in its Principle of Organic Agriculture aptly states this, and I quote: “The role of organic agriculture, whether in farming, processing, distribution, or consumption, is to sustain and enhance the health of ecosystem and organism from the smallest in the soil to human beings.”

The term holistic is often used to describe organic farming. Enhancing soil health is the cornerstone of organic farming. A variety of methods are employed, including crop rotation, green manure, cover cropping, application of compost, and mulching. Pest control targets animal pest (including insects), fungi, weeds and disease. Organic pest control involves the cumulative effect of various techniques, such as encouraging or even introducing beneficial organisms, careful crop selection and crop rotation, mechanical controls such as row covers and traps. Effective organic pest controls requires a thorough understanding of pest life cycle and interactions.

More significantly, organic agriculture is fact emerging as the only sustainable long-term approach to food production. Its emphasis on recycling techniques, biodiversity, low external input and high level output strategies make it an ideal replacement for the petroleum intensive agriculture methods that are currently contributing to global warming.

Organic agriculture is also cognizant and compliant with the internationally-recognized Precautionary Principle or approach of Agenda 21 as agreed in the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, as follows:
”In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be wildly applied by State according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degration.”

We do not have to wait till the day that we can list the one to one correspondence of synthetic chemical in each agricultural input to the disease they cause; we can go directly to the solution by applying organic agriculture. In simple layman’s language: “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.”

Moreover, the market for organic products, both at local and international level, has tremendous growth prospects and offers creative producers and exporters excellent opportunities to improve their income and living conditions. With the trend of consumers, especially in North America and Europe, shifting to organic produce could also be viable and competitive export commodities, thus further increasing our farmers income.

Mr. President, with the above-mentioned positive effects and developments on organic agriculture, I am happy to note that this Senate, with this bill, is heeding the call of the times, that is: restoring health to our soil, restoring health to our people and going back to nature.

Senate Bill 3264 aims to promote, develop further and implement the practice of organic agriculture in the country. The National Organic Agriculture Board (NOAB) is tasked to establish a comprehensive organic agricultural program through the promotion and commercialization of organic farming, cultivation and adoption of production methods which have been developed and continued research on these and the training and education of the farmers and consumers.

The Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Production Standards (BAFPS) Of the Department of Agriculture is designated as the national technical and administrative secretarial of the NOAB.

Organic farming is distinguished by formal standards regulating production methods, and in some cases, final output. Standards may be voluntary or legislated. However, starting in the 1990’s, a trend toward legislation of standards began. As of 2007, over 60 countries have regulations on organic farming. The mandatory certification solidified consumer trust in organic products. The international framework for organic farming is provided by IFOAM.

Central to the organic agricultural program is the certification of organic produce. Thus, we have provided in the bill certain regulatory provision for the certification process. This is for the protection of the consumers as well as recognition to the farmers and organic producers that their organic agricultural systems and practices have passed certain standards, that are internationally accepted or recognized. However, as in other countries, the certification will be done by an independent or third party certifying body and not by a government agency. Although, BAFPS, a government agency, is tasked to accredit these third party organic certifying bodies.

As an additional protection to the consumers, as organic produce are usually priced higher than conventional agricultural produce, we have a provision that requires retail establishments or stores to designate a distinct and separate area to display or put their organic produce to avoid mixing it with non-organic produce.

To encourage farmers to convert into organic agriculture, the bill also provides for several incentives, which are already enjoyed by several businesses and industries. These are:
a.    VAT-exempt and duty-free importation of agricultural equipment/machinery/implements for use in organic agriculture;
b.    Tax incentives, including tax holiday, in accordance with the provisions of EO 226 or the Omnibus Investment Code;
c.    Subsidies for certification fees and other support services to facilitates organic certification;
d.    The land Bank of the Philippines shall give preferential loan rates and open a special loan windows to organic input producers and manufacturers and farmers utilizing organic agriculture; and
e.    LGUs are encouraged to identify local taxes that may be offered as incentives to organic inputs, organic input producers and manufactures are farmers utilizing organic agriculture.

Organic agriculture is a very knowledge incentives production system. Therefore capacity building efforts play a central role in this regard. Thus we have provided in the bill an appropriation provision. We have been prudent if not frugal in the appropriating a measly sum of Fifty million (P50,000,000.) pesos for the initial year if implementation of Act. The amount will go to training and education on organic agriculture, technological assistance to farmers during the conversion process, and training of LGUs’ personnel on organic agriculture for the promotion and marketing of organic products. We appeal to the Body to increase this amount and at the proper time we intend to introduce such changes.

Mr. President, with the enhancement of this bill into law, it is hoped that this will institutionalized organic agriculture programs of the Department of Agriculture and other relevant government  agencies and provide the necessary impetus in developing these healthy and ecologically-sound agricultural practices.

Mr. President, I say: Let us go back to basics, let us go back to nature, let us go Organic! Thus, I urge our colleagues to support the speedy passage of this measure.

Thank you.

Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a fallen Great Leader of our nation. Since the early morning of Saturday, the first of August 2009, the Filipino nation is in grief, mourning the passing of its “Icon of Democracy”. To be called an “Icon of Democracy” is an extraordinary honor in itself but President Corazon “Cory” C. Aquino was more than that.

She had shown her strength first as the devoted wife of Ninoy whose exultations for freedom she kept alive our hearts by Cory herself braving the loneliness and threats to her person and her family. As a window she exuded in her person the ideals of Ninoy. Brokering harmony and unity among various factions then against the Marcos Presidency, she did not compromise on justice, freedom and democracy. In the she became the entire country’s mother.

After the election in January 1986, the Batasang Pambansa declared Marcos as the winner in the snap election amidst charges of massive fraud and cheating, thereafter Cory toured the country to enlighten the Filipino people of the election fraud and cheating and denounced the Marcos dictatorship;

She was the natural moral choice when on February 22, 1986; a group in the military led by then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and AFP Vice Chief of Staff, General Fidel V. Ramos broke away from the Marcos regime. She called on us and we came. In millions, in EDSA and all nerve centers of the country.

Cory, through the “People Power” she led, had united the Filipinos in their quest for freedom, justice and democracy that led to the downfall of a dictatorship and inspired other nation to lunch their version of “people power” which triggered the collapse of communist regimes and dictatorship in Eastern and Latin America.

In the six years of her Presidency, Cory courageously defended our freedom and democracy from various challenges and threats of military coups.

Cory delivered her promise to guide us towards the democratic path by directing the crafting of the 1987 Constitution considered by many as the “Freedom Constitution”.

She broke the hold of many families of privilege in the economy and beyond the bounds of her privileged class laid the path to economic democracy.
In her governance, public office was lived as public trust. We pray that that time will come again.

Though we will miss our separation from her, we can keep our bonds with her alive by the proof of our lives in the personal and public spheres.

May these solemn Guns of August that we offer her signal us to celebration of her life.

Mr. President, when the sound of the last gunshot from the 21-gun salute fades in the air, its deafening silence will be a constant reminder to all of us, that indeed, our covenant with our people is to nurture, protect and defend our democracy at all cost, as exemplified by Cory and her husband Ninoy and many others who came before them.