LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Benguet Caretaker Congressman and Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. Eric Go Yap disclosed that agriculture department officials committed to provide funding for the put up of additional facilities in the multi-billion Benguet Agri Pinoy Trading Center (BAPTC) to provide added value to the agricultural produce of farmers and improve their chances of earning additional income in the trading of their crops.
Yap, who chairs the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, said one of the facilities being proposed to be in the BAPTC is the long overdue processing center, packaging facility and storage equipment that will help in adding to the tons of vegetables being traded in the government trading center to avoid unnecessary losses on the part of the farmers, especially when there is over supply of vegetables.
He stated that agriculture officials are still ascertaining the budget to be included in the agency’s budget next year to fund these proposed facilities of the BAPTC to allow the farmers to maximize the income potentials of their agricultural produce when traded in the said facility.
Congressman Yap underscored that farmers from the different vegetable-producing communities not only in the province but also in nearby provinces in the Cordillera should be given the opportunity to benefit from their agricultural produce by providing them with the opportunity to be able to maximize whatever appropriate facilities to ensure that the said crops will be able to command a higher buying price in the market.
According to him, the putting in place of processing, packaging and storage facilities in the BAPTC as earlier envisioned should be realized during the present administration to allow farmers to directly benefit from their produce, especially during the prevailing crisis situation where everybody is in need of income to sustain the living condition of their families.
The lawmaker pointed out that the vegetable farmers are among the most essential sector that have allowed the Filipinos to survive the wrath of the Corona Virus Disease (COVID) pandemic by producing the needed agricultural crops that were circulated in the different markets and that government needs to reciprocate the aforesaid gesture by providing their needs through the BAPTC to allow them to have value added for their produce and increase their income potentials amidst the difficult ties.
He emphasized that Benguet should also be promoted and known as the producer of the major highland vegetables being sold in the different parts of the country so that the province will have its distinct identity for it no to rely on other nearby places just to be known as an independent agricultural producer and an ecotourism destination in the north.
Congressman Yap claimed that the people should be made to internalize that Benguet can stand alone because of the thousands of farmers that produce the tons of vegetables that are being circulated nationwide aside from being a favourite destination of nature lovers because of the presence of natural attractions in the different municipalities complimented by the semi-temperate weather condition aside from the presence of peace-loving people.
By HENT