The Philippine government signed on Wednesday a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the establishment of a 12.9 billion pesos (296 million U.S. dollars) hydropower and irrigation project in Isabela province which will generate 100 megawatts and irrigate 41,700 hectares of new areas to boost food sufficiency, a senior government official said.
“This project is not only a prime example of the rewards of the Convergence Initiative, but of Public-Private Partnerships the President and our administration are so optimistic about. Such a project is necessary if we are to address one of the biggest issues facing us today: rice self-sufficiency,” Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said.
He said the project is line with the Aquino Administration’s agenda of empowering farms and rural enterprises to become vital components in the government’s drive to achieve food security and more economic growth in the countryside.
“Our presence here today is evidence enough that we are taking this as an unwavering commitment to our people. We will uplift the welfare of our farm and rural workers, and, in the process, we will establish the systems and infrastructure so that food self- sufficiency is realized during and beyond our term,” he said.
To achieve this goal, Ochoa said, the government has started taking steps to move away from heavy dependence on rice imports and clear the bottlenecks in the bureaucracy that impede efforts of agencies to achieve the shared objectives.
