KIKO URGES THE GOVT: BITE THE BULLET, ADDRESS
FISHERIES SECTOR WOES

Senator Francis 'Kiko' Pangilinan calls on the government to focus on arresting the slow decline of the output of the country's fisheries sector.

"The government needs to designate an Undersecretary for Fisheries as a crucial first step. It would be a waste of an immense natural bounty if we fail to address the issues that hound our fisheries sector."

Pangilinan, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, says that while the Department of Agriculture has made tremendous headway in modernizing the country's agriculture sector it cannot afford to leave behind the fisheries sector.

"Our national territory is 1/5 land and 4/5 water. We must ensure that we achieve a balancing of priorities and not leave fisheries behind. We must allocate a considerable amount of our resources both human and material to address the fisheries sector's many concerns."