PHILIPPINES - FILIPINAS

The Honourable Leticia Ramos Shahani, Senate President Pro Tempore of the Philippines

I should like to congratulate FAO and the Government of the Italian Republic for convening this most important Conference at this time. Our World Food Summit has already resulted this morning in the adoption of the Rome Declaration and the World Food Summit Plan of Action. I extend the warm greetings of His Excellency President Fidel V. Ramos, who regrets his inability to attend this historic Summit and for whom I have the honour to deliver this statement.

Twenty-two years ago the World Food Conference set out to eradicate hunger and malnutrition within a decade. Today, the problems of malnutrition and hunger persist. The Philippine Delegation joins the international community in finding solutions to the current food security crisis and emergency in Central Africa and congratulates the Government of Canada for its important initiative in this regard. Fully committed to the noble objectives of this Food Summit, the Philippine Government has pursued and will continue to pursue policies designed to achieve food security. We recognize that Philippine agriculture is at a development crossroad as we prepare for the twenty-first century. These challenges are manifested in terms of a larger and ever-increasing population, a long frontier that has reached its limits, deterioration of the environment and the challenges of globalization brought about by its membership in the WTO, Asean Free Trade Agreement and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. At the National Food Security Summit the Philippine Government convened this year, we adopted a Food Security Policy reiterating that food security is the foremost requisite for ensuring the people's welfare and productivity. This agenda underscores the need to ensure self-sufficiency in rice and white corn for human consumption. It also provides for enhancing the productivity of the agricultural sector based on judicious management in the light of growing pressures on the national resource base due to a rapidly increasing population.

Population growth in the Philippines which has remained high, has been a critical factor leading to increases in land area for cultivation, land conversion and in food production. We therefore take into account the food population dynamics as we promote efficiency and effective policies for food security.

The Philippine Delegation listened this morning with much interest to the statement of His Holiness Pope John Paul II and, in particular, when he said - and I quote «Une population nombreuse peut se révéler source de développement parce qu'elle implique des échanges et des demandes de biens. Cela ne veut évidemment pas dire que la croissance démographique puisse être illimitée. Chaque famille a en ce domaine des devoirs et des responsabilités propres, et les politiques démographiques des Etats doivent respecter la dignité de la nature humaine comme les droits fondamentaux des personnes.»

The Philippines adheres to the principles of sustainable development as the enduring solution to the problems that hinder food security. We have broadened in our country the definition of sustainable development from previous concepts. Sustainable development as we recall in the Rio Declaration was defined as meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations. This perspective places the human being at the centre of sustainable development in harmony with nature. The Philippine Agenda 21 now expounds the concept of harmonious integration of a sound viable economy, responsible governance, social cohesion and ecological integrity to ensure that development is a life-enhancing process. The Philippines therefore welcomes this World Food Summit as we join the world community in calling for an aggressive and coordinated action agenda to address the issues affecting food security.

The FAO with its established global network, and its expertise in agriculture, can best perform the role of facilitator. It can initiate and pursue technical cooperation programmes and generate investments to accelerate sustainable increases in food production, particularly in low-income food-deficit countries. Although the Philippine Government recognizes globalization as inevitable, we acknowledge nevertheless that Government must put in place safety nets for a marginalized population especially farmers, fisherfolk and other rural workers.

To cushion the impact of globalization on our people we have doubled the annual budget for the Department of Agriculture and have pushed for special appropriations in irrigation and other rural infrastructure. In addition, through a joint resolution passed by two chambers of Congress we have created a Congressional Commission on Agricultural Modernisation the task of which is to recommend institutional infrastructure and policy reforms to ensure the modernization of Philippine agriculture.

The Philippines urgently calls for international action to undertake immediate measures for sustainable farming systems. These should include genuine implementation of agrarian reform, the preservation of remaining genetic resources and biodiversity, and the establishment of mechanisms for participation in decision-making for fisherfolk, farmers, indigenous peoples, the private sector, academic institutions, NGOs and other sectors of civil society. Specific actions must be taken by the international community to bring about a substantial reduction in the production and use of pesticide and chemical fertilizers by the year 2000. Legislation must be carried out to regulate bio-prospecting and biotechnology research and testing of genetically-modified organisms.

We also move for international action and recognition in the use of traditional knowledge to develop appropriate technology and create community-based knowledge banks which will facilitate access to these technologies. Likewise, farmers and fisherfolk, including women, should be empowered and recognized as the experts in the fields and the seas serving as the main resources of intellectual innovation and as caretakers of biodiversity in agriculture. The Philippines also calls for cooperation and greater investment in research to generate new technologies and new varieties as existing ones approach the limits of their technological frontiers. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system has to be further strengthened in order to address the decline in the growth rates of rice and wheat production in Asia.

The Philippines has one of the longest shorelines in the world and sits at the centre of the world's marine and coastal biodiversity belt. With a total aquatic area of 2.2 million km² our waters are seven times larger than our total land area and are home to some 2 000 species of fish. The reality of archipelagic nature requires us to see our future not only in terms of tapping our resources on land but in harnessing the potential of our seas through sea farming, sea ranching and in astute coastal and marine management. We welcome the decision of the International Centre for Living Aquatic Resources Management to locate in the Philippines as this ensures that we can go far in our attempt to chart what we now call in the Philippines a "blue revolution".

We are now developing technologies that will also enhance farming in the seas and rivers; projects such as the genetically-improved farm calliope and the Ocean Net Pen Technology need to be expanded to benefit more of our population. For marine fisheries, coastal resource management is a framework for pursuing a social reform agenda in the fisheries sector. This we pursue by forging partnerships between organized coastal communities and local government units for the management and conservation of habitats.

We have already begun to give special priority to programmes that will enhance women's role in agriculture and food security. A Plan of Action for Women in Agriculture provides measures that will address the bigger concern of women's struggle for equal accessory sources, the need for protection from exploitation and the desire for personal, family and community improvement. We welcome the permanent role given to women in the Rome Declaration and Plan of Action.

The Philippine Government further believes that trade under the regime of the WTO should enhance food security of households, communities and the developing countries. Much more should be gained, can be gained, in improving global trade if commitments in domestic support and export subsidies are seriously implemented. Full harmonization of sanitary and phytosanitary measures, the elimination of technical barriers to trade, and the provision of technical assistance should be made for developing countries whose resources and capacities are limited for implementing their own. A thorough study must also be conducted to examine the impact of agricultural trade liberalization on food stocks, prices and trade flows if the international community is to proceed on a sound and realistic footing in tackling the food security issue.

In conclusion, the Philippines joins other nations in this renewed call for cooperation to banish the scourge of hunger from this world. We turn to the developing countries like ours for supplementing our respective strengths and urge the developed countries to facilitate resource sharing. North/South and South/South cooperation are needed. Let there be the international will and solidarity to implement the Rome Declaration and its Plan of Action. Let us give hope and courage to a threatened humanity.