President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday opened his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) by assuring Filipinos that rice production will be prioritized.
“The hard lesson of this last year has made it very clear that whatever current data proudly bannering our country among the best performing in Asia means nothing to a Filipino who is confronted by the price of rice at P45 to P65 per kilo,” Mr. Marcos started his speech.
The President reassured citizens that their experiences and hardships will not be in vain.
“In spite of all the challenges we face, we witnessed the highest rice production in the country over the past year. This reached more than 20 million tons — our highest since 1987,” Marcos said in Filipino.
“This is why we will continue to support the agriculture sector, in order to make it faster, simpler, and more productive… also in order to avoid product wastage,” he added.
Marcos cited the distribution to farmers of over 100 kilos of agricultural products over the past year, alongside the continuous distribution of land titles.
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. Details will follow.
