MANILA — Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan called on fellow senators to pass Senate Bill No. 1624, which seeks to create the Congressional Commission on Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food Security (AGRICOM), as part of efforts to address persistent problems in the country’s agriculture sector and ensure national food security.

In his sponsorship speech delivered on December 17, Pangilinan urged lawmakers to approve the measure, saying the proposed commission is intended “to finally confront what is broken in our agri and fisheries sector and fix it, before the costs grow even higher and the hunger affects even more.”

“Ang tagal na nating ipinagliliban ang reporma. Hindi na tayo makapaghihintay pa. Ngayon ang panahon ng pagkilos,” Pangilinan said. “Buo-in na natin ang agri and fisheries food security commission. Huwag nating itapon ang pagkakataong ito.”

Pangilinan clarified that the AGRICOM will not be a permanent bureaucracy but a three-year intervention aimed at producing concrete and targeted reforms “that the government is politically bound to act on.”

Under SB No. 1624, the commission will harmonize the policies and programs of the Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Cooperatives Development Authority, and other agriculture-related agencies to address overlapping mandates.

The proposed commission will also “restructure and streamline agriculture and fisheries-related bureaucracies to address their institutional weaknesses and shortcomings, including the relationship between and among national, provincial, and local stakeholders in order to effectively implement agriculture and fisheries policies and programs, including the transfer of information and technology, particularly at the grassroots level.”

Pangilinan said the AGRICOM will examine challenges across the entire food system, including supply chains, laws, mandates, institutional structures, climate risks, and the experiences of farmers, fishers, traders, middlemen, consumers, wholesalers, and retailers.

“It will lay down medium- and long-term development paths with measurable targets: higher yields, higher incomes, better infrastructure, stronger market access, and real climate resilience. Ang mahalaga, hindi matatapos sa mga plano ang trabaho,” he said.

“It will recommend specific laws, budget priorities, (and) institutional reforms — and report regularly to Congress on what must be done,” he added.

Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, said the proposed commission will place farmers, fisherfolk, consumers, indigenous communities, agribusiness practitioners, and other beneficiaries at the center of agriculture reforms.