Capitol, banks eye P20 B start-up for countryside dev’t

SELF SUFFICIENCY in corn production is one of the goals of Cebu Capitol as it eyes to move into its enhanced countryside development program as part of the new normal after the pandemic shook its economy.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu provincial government will be partnering with three banks to put up a P20 billion fund to capacitate farmers and fisherfolks for countryside development and to achieve self-sufficiency for the province.

In a news release, the Capitol said Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has met with the officials of the LandBank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), and the Veteran’s Bank last week, May 21, to discuss the province’s planned shift to “enhanced countryside development.”

The three banks agreed to create a common fund that will support the ECD, the Capitol said.

Garcia earlier said that the province will shift its economic focus to countryside development — providing job opportunities in the towns and self-sufficiency in food production — as part of its “new normal” after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic shook the province’s economy that was previously anchored on tourism.

Read: Capitol to focus on Enhanced Countryside Development after ECQ is lifted

Last Thursday, May 21, Garcia and officials of the three banks agreed to come up with a start-up fund of P20 billion.

“Funding will be available to all — marginalized farmers, small and medium farm organizations, up to large agriculture enterprises,” the Capitol PIO quoted the governor.

“We have to give hope to the people, and we have to manage this fear and turn this into hope,” Garcia told bank executives, as she emphasized the need to give people the hope that the government is doing something amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read: After May 15, what ‘new normal’ awaits Cebu?

According to Provincial Agriculturist Dr. Roldan Saragena, the province’s white corn sufficiency at present is only at 37 percent. This means that the province is mostly dependent on outside sources for its corn supply.

During the relief campaigns for families whose sources of income were badly affected by the community quarantine due to COVID-19, Garcia lamented that the province needed to run around looking for supplies to feed its people.

Saragena said self-sufficiency in corn production means the local farmers need 38,000 hectares of land that could produce 144,021.21 metric tons of corn.

Garcia has ordered an inventory of the land and properties of the province which may be used for planting corn and other grains.

In the north, Capitol consultant for fourth district development Benhur Salimbangon said about 4,000 hectares of idle land once used for sugarcane plantation may be tapped for the project. / dcb