Legarda visits Science City of Muñoz

Senator Loren Legarda will address today participants and guests at the "Search for Mutya ng Lungsod Agham ng Muñoz 2013" at the Science City of Muñoz Pag-asa Multipurpose Gym.

"Today marks the 100th Founding Anniversary and the 12th Charter Anniversary of the Science City of Muñoz. The city is envisioned to be at the forefront of research and innovation in agriculture, education, agro-tourism, and even culture, and they deserve our full encouragement and support. I wish to impart to them the available forms of assistance for the agricultural sector, our micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and even our indigenous cultural communities," she said.

Legarda, author of the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act, noted that the law requires banks to allocate 25% of their loanable funds to the agriculture sector to finance the acquisition of work animals, farm equipment or machinery, seeds, fertilizers, livestock, feeds and/or other similar items for farm production.

"The spirit of the law is to boost the agriculture sector and to promote livelihood among agrarian reform beneficiaries," she added.

The Senator, also author of the MSME Law as well as the Barangay Kabuhayan Law, will speak about the utilization of available resources in the country, encouragement of the development of the exceptional creativity and artistry of Filipinos, and promotion of the growth of MSMEs as main drivers of our economy.

"Aside from being the lifeblood of the Philippine economy, MSMEs are powerful platforms for promotion of viable rural livelihoods, cultural preservation, socio-economic empowerment of indigenous peoples, and environmental protection," she said.

"As we celebrate such an auspicious day for residents of the Science City of Muñoz, I aim to showcase our efforts to help the concerned sectors and inspire them to achieve many more milestones in research and development," Legarda concluded.