Food congress

I will represent Mayor Rody Duterte at the opening today of the two-day 6th Mindanao Food Congress at the Royal Mandaya Hotel.

Timed for the Kadayawan Festival in the city to celebrate the good harvest, the Congress would gather stakeholders from all over the region to push further the vision of Mindanao as the country’s food basket.

At its launching several months back, I also represented our Mayor and I recall sharing to our media colleagues my thoughts about the congress. I remember telling them the need to focus the congress in helping solve hunger and poverty rather than highlighting the export potentials of the food industry in the island.

It is truly ironic that in spite of the bounty of food in Mindanao, hunger and poverty incidences continue to rise.

Several bigwigs from Manila, including Senator Ed Angara and Secretary of Agriculture Arthur Yap, are coming to listen to policy proposals from Mindanao food producers. I hope addressing hunger would be one of them. (6:01 a.m.)