Right to adequate food supply proposed
QUEZON City 5th District Rep. PM Vargas has filed a bill seeking to institutionalize a framework for the right to adequate food in the country.
House Bill (HB) No. 4562 or the Right to Adequate Food Framework Bill seeks to address food availability, stability, and security by establishing well-functioning distribution, processing, and market systems.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., who is also the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, has expressed that he will exhaust all efforts to stabilize food supply and improve food production in response to the looming global food crisis as reported by the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Food Programme
In his speech at the 77th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in September, President Marcos emphasized the importance of food as “the very basis of human security.”
In support of the President’s priority food security programs, HB 4562 when enacted into law shall serve as guide and development plan for the country’s commitment to eradicate hunger within a ten year period.
Salient provisions of the bill include guidelines on international cooperation, standards on the minimum amount of food for the undernourished, and government obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to adequate food.
“Every Filipino family deserves to have enough food on their plates and be free from hunger. When we eradicate hunger, we improve not only the health and wellbeing of individuals, but create better communities and a united nation,” Vargas said.
The Right to Adequate Food Framework Bill was approved on third and final reading in the House of Representatives but failed to pass in the Senate in the previous Congress.
“With President Marcos at the helm of establishing modern and resilient agricultural development in the country, I am hopeful that our shared vision of an accessible and adequate food supply for all Filipinos is forthcoming,” Vargas said.
