WHEN I envisioned and planned Clark Green City (now called New Clark City) during my term as BCDA president and CEO, one of the key pillars of its development was the construction of an Asian food logistics hub like the Rungis Market in France. This is critical infrastructure for Filipino farmers to trade in the global market. I brought together the Rungis Market leadership and the BCDA team to replicate this Asian global food hub.
I brought that vision to different agriculture secretaries — Secretary Emmanuel Piñol and Secretary William Dar. To hasten commercial agricultural production, I proposed to Secretary Dar and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (who eventually became the BCDA chairman) that we harness the massive agricultural potential of idle military lands in Fort Magsaysay in Luzon, Camp Peralta in Panay and Camp Kibaritan in Mindanao. With a combined area of almost 120,000 hectares, these idle military reservations could serve as regional agro-industrial ecozones in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, with Clark Food Hub as the central trading platform in a "hub-and-spoke" model. To bring in the private sector, I contacted a visionary business leader, Mr. Manuel Pangilinan (MVP) of the Metro Pacific Group, to partner with the government on this venture through a PPP model. This could have been a game changer for our food security and the modernization of our agriculture. Given the capable leadership of the economic team of the Marcos Jr. administration, led by Secretary Frederick Go, the special assistant to the President for investment and economic affairs, this can be done now.
Continue reading with one of these options:
Ad-free access
P 80 per month
(billed annually at P 960)
- Unlimited ad-free access to website articles
- Limited offer: Subscribe today and get digital edition access for free (accessible with up to 3 devices)