The Department of Agriculture (DA) is rolling out a sweeping reform agenda aimed at fixing what it calls the “broken economics” of Philippine agriculture, a push that Malacañang sees as central to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s lasting legacy before he leaves office in June 2028.
Speaking at the Big Bold Reform, a business forum organized by the Department of Finance (DoF) and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said long-standing problems—high rural poverty, uneven productivity, and recurring food supply shocks—have persisted despite years of public spending. “Despite sustained public spending, outcomes on the ground remain fixed,” he said. “Productivity gains have been uneven, farmer incomes remain low, and food supply shocks continue to affect consumers.”
For the Marcos administration, the reforms are meant to deliver tangible outcomes: farmers and fisherfolk earning just incomes from their hard work, a more resilient food system, and an agriculture sector that contributes more meaningfully to economic growth while attracting private investment.
Tiu Laurel stressed that the challenge is not a lack of government effort but how resources are deployed. “These challenge points is not a lack of effort, but the need for better targeting, stronger governance, and more coordinated execution,” he said. The DA is now pivoting “from fragmented and input-focused interventions to a coherent, impact-oriented, and result-driven reform agenda.”
At the center of the strategy is a unified framework anchored on seven initiatives. First is sharper targeting of public investments toward areas with high poverty incidence, strong production potential, and low productivity. “Basically, where the returns to interventions are the highest—parang negosyo,” Tiu Laurel said, signaling a more commercial mindset in farm spending.
The second reform addresses the government’s traditionally rice-centric approach. While rice remains vital, the DA will pursue a more balanced commodity strategy, expanding support for fisheries, sugar, coconut, corn, livestock, and high-value crops to diversify income streams and reduce vulnerability to shocks.
Governance reforms are another pillar. The DA is institutionalizing transparency, accountability, and participatory governance across the full project cycle. “Effective policies [are] not only about what we implement, but how transparently and accountable we do so,” Tiu Laurel said, pointing to open access to program information and structured feedback mechanisms for farmers and fisherfolk.
The department is also strengthening co-investment with local governments through enhanced province-led extension systems and improved data management via updated farmer and fisher registries. Tiu Laurel announced that the DA Command Center—described as a first for the agency—has been completed and will be operationalized next month.
Heavy investments are flowing into logistics and post-harvest infrastructure to address what Tiu Laurel called the “missing middle” of the value chain. These include P33 billion for farm-to-market roads, cold storage expansion, agricultural food hubs, deep-water ports, and post-harvest facilities. “This represents a deliberate shift away from the production-only mindset towards a holistic value chain approach,” he said.
Backed by a results matrix under the Philippine Development Plan and reflected in the 2026 budget, the reforms aim to translate policy into measurable outcomes. For the Marcos administration, success would mean agriculture evolving from a social protection concern into a competitive, investment-ready sector—one that delivers income, resilience, and long-term growth.
