Senator Kiko Pangilinan is asking President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to certify as urgent a bill institutionalizing the extension services provided by the government to farmers and fisherfolk to ensure rural development and uplift the living conditions of agricultural workers.
Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, revealed plans to ask the President to prioritize the passage of Senate Bill No. 1182, or the Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Act of 2025, which he filed last August 13.
“There is a need for agricultural extension services at the provincial and municipal levels, as well as the strengthening of agricultural cooperatives.”
In his privilege speech recently about the state of the country’s agricultural sector, the veteran legislator underscored the need for agricultural extension services at the provincial and municipal levels, as well as the strengthening of agricultural cooperatives.
“Uumpisahan na natin ang mga hearing tungkol dito at hinihiling natin sa Pangulo na i-certify itong mga bills bilang urgent–extension service at pagpapalakas ng agriculture coops under the DA (Department of Agriculture),” the seasoned lawmaker said.
The senator has personal awareness of the systematic failure to provide extension services to farmers and fisherfolk.
As a farmer-CEO who has been running his own farm in Alfonso, Cavite for more than a decade, Pangilinan said the nearest DA regional office to him was located three hours away–in Lipa, Batangas.
“This resulted in the inability of local farmers and fisherfolk to access critical government services such as loans, financial aid for pesticides and fertilizers, technical training, and many more.”
This, he explained, resulted in the inability of local farmers and fisherfolk to access critical government services such as loans, financial aid for pesticides and fertilizers, technical training, and many more.
Pangilinan’s proposed legislation will create the Philippine Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Agency–replacing the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI)–to serve “as the national apex organization for a unified and efficient agriculture and fisheries extension system of the country”.
“It shall ensure that public extension services meet the national standards of performance and effectively contribute towards the achievement of the national goals of agriculture and fisheries modernization and sustainable development,” it added.
The law will likewise mandate the hiring of several agriculture experts–provincial agriculture and fisheries officer (PAFO), assistant PAFO for fisheries development, assistant PAFO for agriculture development, city agriculturist and fisheries officer (CAFO), and municipal agriculture and fisheries officer.
