our guest speaker is known as a lawyer a senator and an advocate for the agricultural seor he graduated from the College of Law of the University of the Philippines we call each other classmates same with P president K Campo even as our speaker opted to take the bar a year after after us and subsequently the John F Kennedy School of government at the Harvard University before our P cross at the UB College of Law poo was a student leader and may I say also the campus AR right at the UB he comes among his bus
here in our club three illustrious past presidents F Alonso Pas and ioto from the along with he would then become the youngest councelor of K City and later on was elected to the senate for three turns where he also served as the majority FL leader a bit of Previa here too was actually terribly conflicted during the last UA finals as he was torn between rooting for his grade in high school Al Master at D University where he was a track and field star and and also and volleyball and also up bar and you where he
finished his pre law and law degrees I bet he was wearing horam Ando at that time as the chairman of the standing committee on agriculture and food he passed several important laws including the organic agricultural act the S Saka Act and Co Levy trust fund Act laws that are aimed at strengthening the agricultural sector and improving the likelihood of our Farmers former president Beno noino made him presidential assistant for food security and agal jourm where he oversaw po agencies the Philippine coconate Authority fertilizer and pesticides Authority the na irrigation Authority the national food Authority under
his leadership he effectively manage our country's rice Supply from 2014 to 2015 were in Rise prices dropped by three pesos within just one year this in turn brought down nationwide inflation to its lowest recorded rate in 20 years in 2022 our speaker set aside his initial plans to run for the Senate despite what many have said that he was already a win the Senate to run as a run made of former vice president lennyo caring the platform hello Pak goodbye that fellow retires and guest s up three decades of public service for the Filipino people
our guest speaker is a leader who embodies the values fully embodies the values of being and most importantly our speaker is untainted by corruption fellows and guest let us welcome our guest speaker for today our returning Senator Mr B number 51 in the Bator Francis thank you very much please I am not the Philippine national thank you very much for that kind introduction to my classmate sometimes seatmate but always the better law student I was always ask Lou president of course P District Governor Tony Kila Sid Garcia James masar SU Santa Maria peps and Chacha
Tam our district governor elect Reggie noo Kei Harrison our president Eddie GES president El okay uh former [Music] president how president nominee Chris Perera president nominee designate fza sorry sorry Chris fza Aon M our invocator and to uh actually fellow raran because I was a rotary club member of new Manila East many many years ago um and uh but my father was an active 53% of our citizens have rated themselves as poor um we have the lowest levels of optimism since 2009 15 years ago our education system is in crisis our children 0 to 7
years old are experiencing onethird of them are experiencing varous degrees of stunting the education performance or education indicators of the performance of our children leave very much to be desired inflation continues to play the ordinary F and is the number one or number two concern of the ordinary FK jobs and uh uh salary increases are the also a number one concern of our uh ordinary F high prices of food highest levels actually of animosity in the highest levels of politics and government uh What uh what where is this disenchantment coming from where is the disappointment
and the uh despair coming from what has triggered the levels of suffering and despair the 63% self poverty rating is the lowest since 2004 or the highest rather since 2004 and the level of of hopelessness uh is the highest in 15 years since about 2009 so what has triggered these levels of suffering and despair I would say two things the economy and the politics coming from the previous national elections where the promise was Unity the promise was 20 PES rice we now face the opposite a disunity that is unprecedented and the rice prices that triple
rather than was met 20% commitment so both promises broken and all of that there is animosity anger there is mudslinging throwing of mud of corruption issues left and right leaves our voters both um having a sense of being betrayed and obviously suffering because of high prices of food everywhere you go people will say and will agree that a few years ago 1,00 today they would say there is a sensor for Bing a brewing siming level of disenchantment and despair and uh this going into the 225 national elections so people power days today celebrating 39 years
clearly the promise of people power continue to evade us of a democracy of a better life you will some of you will remember it wasn't the uh it wasn't so much the political um slogans prior to people power but economic that really hit home such as today it's 300 p solear the promises of Eda a lot have remained unfulfilled and we Filipinos have been grappling with the challenge of a genuine uh leadership in the public sector also politically speaking and in the context of the coming elections in a recent scientific poll of o 26% consider
themselves as neither for or against any of the neither B nors that's a 26% none of the about that is a big number I remember in 209 prior to the national elections and prior to the death of Cory 29% of those vot said none will be above but of course that was a presidential election 29% said none of the above in consideration or in the context of several uh presidential presidential candidates the front runner then was 33% that was in June 2009 that was a manard but I didn't see that as the front lead Runner
I didn't see that the as the news actually that I was looking at or the uh interesting bit of information it was actually the 29% who said none of the above because I said then I remember that because I was still a candidate I announced my candidacy for vice president then in 2009 and I was looking at the numbers I said to myself 29% out of the above if we give TV adds to 29% none of the above none of the above will beat the front F and then when Cory died in August I told
myself it will be you know because the 29% finally will have that that 29% I believe was a protest Brewing simmering Despair and disenchantment senent that found it way uh to a non-candidate p did not intend to run he first [Music] refused when he was interviewed he was asked when was it that you felt the need to run or at least that it entered your mind he said it was when we were going to man Memorial we were all in the coaster he left the coaster order to BU U the procession Burnal possession of coin
he left went out of the poster and the people moed him and the people said that was his answer to the interview when he felt impact should consider of course not so long story was that he actually left to look for the restro because uh it was a long possession and when he was know he wanted to smoke a cigarette so the joke there was if there was a restroom inside the poter and so the other joke is uh be careful if you're headed for the rest you might end up becoming president but seriously there
was a growing sense of Despair there just as we have a growing sense of disenchantment and despair today whether or not there will be a protest both whether or not there will be an outpouring of uh support and sympathy for a non- candidate or the none of the above candidate we will see all the depends on how the elections play out I'd like to see now having said that um we are one of two candidates uh as a t Pino and myself B was the campaign manager of L in 2016 and again in 2022 and
I ran uh L's Vice President we both believe that what we so in 2022 we have to nurture and that a m Harvest sooner or later will happen just the other day uh in uh panga after we went through a series of campaign SS a lady went up to me to in her with and te up in because she supported us in the last election um I've never seen that kind of invested or being invested in a campaign in the National level in my entire thing several States as a national candidate a national politic and
it has not the only time that has happened repeated over and over in the last few years therefore we I believe we are you know potentially we are in an unprecedented uh situation where our supporters will come out we hope to be able to inspire them and bring about people power the 2022 elections many may say was an unprecedented outpouring of voluntarism I said I've never seen my three runs as murals [Music] of but that was really the volun coming out in their last numbers and uh Inu I remember say I've never also have bills
because if you have you don't have enough resources you bring it to TV or radio uh uh expenses for ads not on billboards Billboards then was not effective as effectiv TV and radios so I've never had Billboards so when I said this is the first time I have a billboard in 2022 here inuu daugh went up to me and said well you know Senator this is also the first time we're donating to a politician in P so so it's far for the course but uh going back you know is there an opportunity for an uprising
electoral U I believe so are our voters capable of making informed decisions despite what the poing suggests I believe so the ability to discern is necessary so that an informed decision becomes possible without discernment there is no informed decision and without conversation there can be no discernment what we've learned in the last elections is there was no clear conversation as amongst voters but what was prevailing was insults threats uh bullying there's no conversation there clearly there can be no conversation when insults are it's all G anger animosity polarization and that's why the challenge today is
how do we in our campaign sties provide the setting within which there can be conversations after which discernment can then follow and an informed decision can be made uh the reason I believe why precisely the polls are such is because we need to have those conversations so that discernment will uh will take place finally informed decisions for um are are people capable of making informed decisions I think yes and I will uh cite the data when I was running for the senate in 2021 I had not plan Roney for vice president was if Len decided
last minute obviously I decided last 10 seconds because the decision you came up to ask me but as I was running to the Senate and had been preparing for the Senate run in September of 2021 I was ranking 12 to 15 Ros was ranking 15 to 17 and Dick Gordon was ranking 15 to 21 so we all pretty much outside the women C after 45 days of hearings in the far uh controversy where they myself Lisa played a very active role uh by by October October 2021 I was ranking 9 to 12 Rea was ranking
12 to 15 and uh dick was ranking 12 to 13 we gave about anywhere between 5 to 7 million vots and the only major change in our connection with our voters was the family hearings which is my in my analysis once the vter is able to see for himself or herself without the disinformation unfiltered the facts voters are capable of making decision the challenge is how do we address this information how do we address the short memories because you know after a while people forget because the nature of uh social media is that there's so
much clatter out there that uh maybe a month is like an eternity in terms of the information that one can access and be exposed so these are some of the challenges I believe in the context of where we're at today they say when when the hunger passs when the economy is already hurting then uh the opportunity for protest a protest vote is there I would reiterate there was a protest vote with with Pino uh because of the disenchantment and disappointment as among the choices uh which led to him being drafted without his consent well of
course with his consent but you know he [Music] was um and even before that in 20 7 the run up to 2010 two presidents one after the other in a period of four years betrayed the people president EST in 2001 and president with ZTE hello Dar in 2004 so much so by 2007 the despair was already there the protest vote I would like to take well two problem there was a angry protest vote this is my own analysis You can disagree with there was a hopeful protest vote the Ang protest vote was that in 2007
S fanis while in jail won because he represented you know a fighter who was unjustly detained and therefore the anger you know uh he was as angry as everyone else they shared and his Crusade the other was hope um of course I may be lifting my own bench here B because I ran an independent campaign in 2007 I refused to join estada I refused to join aino for the first time in the history of the Senate an incumbent Senator refused to join any of the tickets position or administration because I asked both of them to
resign I felt the Betrayal of the public was such that if you call someone to resign and the politicians left without I said how can I explain to my kids I asked a to decide and now I'm joining this ticket and is raising my hand in the same way how can I ask GMA to how can I explain to my kids that I asked GMA to resign and then I with her the ticket because I had to win an election so I chose the independent part um it made it more difficult because someone in the
opposition without my consent asked me to told the Str at least that's the story I was told that I was to join the which was not and so they announced I was ready with the opposition and I said no I had to go up to them and say I'm sorry I'm not the opposition of course that's very difficult because people would say and they actually said it you know it's political suicide what he's doing etc etc anyway to make the long story short after the elections I was number one in Pampanga I was number one
in cibu I was number one in ILO I was number one in goete and I was number one in oan as an independent so I ended up number five uh and I remember this up until today when I ran that independent campaign it was in maaka Pampanga in a resettlement area we were doing a independent motorc a voter in basketball shorts in basketball jersey when in slippers came up to me while I was on on the truck pick up got my hand and told me and when I open my P it was 100 100 would
have bought you maybe five kilos of R but that decided and when on that that at that point I said and we did win that one number one so then uh are we uh in the C of another electoral upheaval in 2025 and R up to 2028 it all depends I consider this this my value together with B after our defeats in 2016 I won then but our president lost 2019 2022 I consider this run a sacred J for the cost of good government to deliver a victory for our people and our nation and I
hope that as we go through the next 77 days our citizens will likewise embrace the burden the responsibility the sacred you win this for pleas and good afternoon to everyone thank you for that very informative interesting and insightful speech but before we go to the uh Q&A would like to play a short video so F your uh [Music] attention way of honoring our hope fire [Music] my for be [Music] for [Music] the spe you and I can remember what's being on on radio Okay so let's start the Q&A please uh make your questions brief and
let's it to one question per member so you can accommodate the others uh our Senator will have to leave at 1 yes first question Mr speaker thank you for gracing our okay you you mentioned that it was important to have inform fers and in the list that I have I only found six you're not in it so I still have six to to to choose from um uh I'm inan Agriculture and I understand you also had a a tri okay 37 years ago Land Reform was passed okay and there was an extension for 10 more
years and then extension for five more years my first question is how did you votee them second question you mentioned that our country has a high level of hopelessness high level of poverty now if you look at our agriculture sector it's in such a solid state okay we are an importer of rice in the millions of tons importer of sugar in the thousands of tons importer of onion tomato galong um uh practically even so okay so so obviously our agriculture sector has been hit by okay and earlier this year the president signed the Emancipation $50
billion of deaths of farmers are now wiped out I think it's something like that equivalent in their loans no so uh it is condone it is their manpat okay my my second question first question is how you voted second question if you were made Senator this is where the informed voter comes in you would probably get yourself involved in agriculture if you're elected what will you do to change the poor state of our AR culture system thank you sir what's your name sirope I'm not the journalist that's journalist Tony is my comp um okay what
I wasn't in Congress yet when they voted uh uh for the C but I voted in favor of the extension of C there is this concern that car actually and which is true a car uh we lost the economies scale when we subdivided uh agriculture land to three five hectares uh scale uh and I will agree at to a certain extent uh Thailand's the number one exporter of natural rubber in the planet their average Farm size in plantations actually the farm size is less than one Hector but they are clustered and they're ordinance uh therefore
it's not the small land size per or land Holdings per se in in today in the country the average Farm size is about 9,000 square met uh so if you don't organize that you don't cluster that you don't have economy forc uh I was in Taiwan last year I visited an organic vegetable farm 45 hectares 24 Farmers again the average Farm size is less than 2 hectares but they're organized and they're bustered and they are provided the necessary support the extension services is uh are to be critical we don't have that here in PH Taiwan
is spending 12 billion a year for government spending in agriculture um the average income of a farmer in Thailand in uh Taiwan Taiwan is about 300,000 I sat down with this ministry of uh of Agriculture there and we are spending about $3 billion their population is 25 million our population is 120 million but we're spending a for of what Taiwan is spending Thailand is spending double agriculture uh funding compared to us Vietnam is spending three times more Vietnam is a population of 90 million we have a population of 70 H sorry Thailand is a population
of 70 and yet they're spending go or C in agriculture clearly as you have put it the agriculture sector is lagging backward hard Indonesia is uh exporting Mar $50 billion plus plus worth of AG products Thailand is exporting about 40 4443 billion AG exports Malaysia um P22 um that come about about the same 178 Singapore is doing what billion dollar and we're doing seven seven so that gives you a sense of how far behind our agriculture sector is so when I was asked pesos per kilo I said of course is saying never accept the premises
of the question uh so I answered Department of Agriculture you put your money where your m is number one and don't put the money in the pockets of the politicians or the bureaucracy you put it where for go so you must have the right ask immediately because I was already I already had 3 years uh experience in the sector as chairman of the committee on agriculture immediately we address the problem of inflation by one we filed cases against orders we raided diverted bags of n Rice confiscated uh the rice about half a billion PES worth
of uh confiscated rice in the period of three months from June to August we refuse to buy from Thailand and viam their overpriced uh rice we asked them four times in one year to bring the rise prices offered down and four times they agreed initially they were telling us in Old hands we have no choice if we don't they won't sell we will have a crisis I said no we have Choice why because we are a big buyer we're buying half a million metric tons of rice their rice after six months the prices will go
down because it is a perishable gr so they would want to sell to us in do and up four times they reduce their prices and in the total we save about 7 billion pesos in that year after that law enforcement buying low making sure that we support our rice farmers in terms of production um we made climate resilience interventions wherein our rice farmers who lost their crops were the ones hired to fix and rehabilitate the storm or for
