LIVE: PBBM leads ceremonial turnover of the urea donation from China | June 16, 2023
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Today, as we hold the turnover ceremony of the donation of the 20,000 metric tons of fertilizer from the People's Republic of China to the Republic of the Philippines,
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we take great pride to be a part of this magnificent and significant undertaking here in the MFC compound in Barangay Malanday,
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which coincidentally is a part of the ongoing North-South Computer Railway Project.
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Truly, progress goes where President Bongbong Marcos goes.
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Again, we give you our warmest welcome to the City of Valenzuela.
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Thank you, Mayor Gatchalian.
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At this point, may we invite the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Philippines, His Excellency Huang Zilian, to deliver his message.
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Your Excellency President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr., Your Honorable Secretary Antonio, Honorable Secretary Rex Gatchalian, and Honorable Mayor Wesley Gatchalian,
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ladies and gentlemen, good morning to all of you.
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It is a great pleasure to attend this handover ceremony of the 20,000 tons of fertilizer donation by China to the Philippines.
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The fertilizer donation is part of the deliverable of President Marcos' visit to China earlier this year.
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We are happy to see that the donation has arrived in Manila as scheduled.
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Actually, not exactly in Manila, in Valenzuela City.
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I would like to thank the Department of Agriculture for organizing this event,
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and my thanks also go to relevant agencies and enterprises for their hard work to make this happen.
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Mr. President, following the important consensus reached between you and President Xi Jinping
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on further deepening our cooperation in various fields, including prioritizing agriculture, infrastructure, energy, and people-to-people exchanges.
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The arrival of the fertilizers speaks for China's action and sincerity and demonstrates the friendship of the Chinese people for the people of the Philippines.
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The Philippine government gives high priority to food security, and China, as a large agricultural country, also attaches great importance to our food production.
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President Xi Jinping stressed that food security is one of the country's fundamentals,
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and China's food supply should always remain firmly in our own hands.
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Fertilizer is crucial to increasing crop production.
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China feeds nearly one-fifth of the world's population with only 10 percent of the world's arable land.
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Undoubtedly, fertilizer plays a vital role.
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It is now the peak of rice planting for the wet season in the Philippines, and fertilizer is most needed for the farmers.
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We hope that these fertilizers could extend a helping hand to those in need in the Philippines, elevate shortage, promote food production, and increase farmers' income.
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Last week, we had a series of celebrations marking the 48th anniversary of our diplomatic ties to celebrate the establishment of China-Philippine diplomatic ties and our 22nd Friendship Day.
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Once again, we heard the common aspiration and voice of our two peoples for China-Philippines friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation.
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Looking ahead, we truly believe that as long as the consensus between our two top leaders is implemented in real earnest,
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with strengthened communication and dialogue, and differences properly managed,
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China-Philippine relations will maintain a steady momentum of development and enjoy an even brighter future.
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Thank you, Ambassador Wang Silian.
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May we request everyone to direct your attention on the screen for an audiovisual presentation on the fertilizer donation.
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One of the main drivers of our push for growth and employment will be in the agricultural sector.
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The Department of Agriculture, with His Excellency President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the Concurrent Secretary, highlighted the agricultural sector as one of the drivers for economic growth and increasing employment.
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With the President's vision of masaganang agrikultura, maunglad na ekonomiya, improving the agricultural landscape of the nation is among his high priority sectors.
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Fertilizer distribution has been one of the activities supported in recent years by the DA's Banner Programs to aid farmers in increasing farm productivity and their income.
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As a response to the Philippines' call for additional aid in providing assistance to local farmers,
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the Government of the People's Republic of China will be donating 20,000 metric tons of urea fertilizer to the Government of the Philippines.
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The Office of the President, through a memorandum from the Executive Secretary, has approved, last December 1, 2022, the acceptance of the said donation.
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Included in the advisory from the Government of the People's Republic of China, dated September 13, 2022,
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and in the memorandum from the Executive Secretary, that once the urea fertilizer arrives, the DA is tasked to facilitate its release from the port and delivery to the intended rice and corn farmer beneficiaries.
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Meanwhile, the Office of the President issued a Delegation of Authority to the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, or FPA, to accept the donated urea fertilizers on behalf of the Department of Agriculture.
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Moreover, to facilitate the brokerage, hauling, delivery service and warehousing, and monitoring of said fertilizer donation,
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the DA signed a memorandum of agreement with the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority that has the mandate to assure the agricultural sector of adequate supplies of fertilizer.
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The FPA further supports the project through laboratory analysis, logistics support, and monitoring activities.
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The DA Regional Field Offices and FPA Regional Field Units will be distributing 400,000 bags of urea to five regions in Luzon, namely, Ilocos Region, Tagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Bicol Region.
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The Government of the Republic of the Philippines expresses its sincerest gratitude to the Government of the People's Republic of China for its unwavering support towards the development of the Philippine agriculture.
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The DA also acknowledges the support of other Philippine government agencies and other partners for all the efforts they made to make this possible.
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Thank you very much.
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Thank you very much.
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At this juncture, we would like to invite the President, together with the stage party at the center of the stage, to receive the certificate of fertilizer donation from the People's Republic of China to the Philippines.
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Let's give everyone a round of applause.
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Thank you very much, Mr. President, and to the People's Republic of China for the donation.
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And now, may we call on the special assistant to the President, Secretary Ernesto Antonio Lagdameo, Jr., to introduce our guest speaker.
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Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the Republic of the Philippines, His Excellency Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
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Thank you, Secretary Antonio Lagdameo. Please take your seat for your introduction.
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Of course, we would like to greet our benefactor, representing the People's Republic of China, His Excellency Ambassador to the Philippines, Hwang Chi Lian,
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who is here representing the People's Republic on this very generous donation that they have given us.
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The DSWD Secretary, Rex Gatchalian, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, and of course, our hosts for today's festivities are the Mayor of Valenzuela,
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Mayor Wes Gatchalian, Congressman, Second District Representative Eric Martinez, fellow workers in government,
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We are complete, the Department of Agriculture, because we are all very grateful for this very magnificent donation that we are receiving today from the People's Republic.
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Of course, our very important partners in the private sector, other distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.
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I was looking at the sign and it said it's the ceremonial turnover. But actually, it's not the ceremonial turnover, it is the actual turnover.
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We are surrounded by bags and bags of the 20,000 metric tons of urea which has been donated to us by the Chinese government and is now being formally accepted by the Philippines.
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So on behalf of the Filipino people, let me extend our deepest gratitude and appreciation to the Chinese government and its people for this donation, a solid gesture of friendship and goodwill that is in keeping with our long and storied history of trade and cultural exchange.
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It is worth highlighting that this act of magnanimity comes during the commemoration this month of the 48th year of our formal diplomatic relations with China, and I cannot think of a more appropriate gesture to symbolize the strengthening ties between China and the Philippines.
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This donation that came from China was a product of our requests from all our friends around the world during the crisis when fertilizer – well, what we are still feeling now – when fertilizer prices went up and the availability was also because of the supply chain problems that we were experiencing
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with our usual suppliers, and China did not think twice and immediately came up.
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And I remember that it was a very good conversation that we had with your President, President Xi, in which he said that agriculture as well is a foundation of the Chinese economy and a necessity for the Chinese government to attend to
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because at the very basic level government's main responsibility is to take care of its people and a large part of that is to provide a good food supply for their people.
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And that is where we had this meeting of the minds and that is why I am not surprised that immediately upon our request for any assistance in terms of fertilizer supply that China immediately understood the predicament that we were in and thus we have today the turnover of these 20,000 metric tons of urea fertilizer from China to the Philippines.
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It will tremendously aid our efforts to boost agricultural production, our nation's pursuit of food security. Indeed, it is through these kind deeds, especially those that can be felt by our people, that we reinforce the foundations of our bilateral ties, that of trust and of mutual benefit.
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Soon, these donated goods will find their way to our Filipino farmers. They will be able to spend the savings gained from production costs from other things that matter to them and their families.
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We will make sure that the message of goodwill from our highly cherished donors will cascade to them and to the rest of our citizens.
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I would like just to add that in keeping with this generosity that we today are the beneficiaries of from the People's Republic of China, that also, as Secretary Rex has just informed me yesterday, that China has also provided 4 million pesos worth of rice for relief goods for those evacuees in the Mayon Valley.
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So these generous acts symbolize the value of the relationship between our two countries. We must continue to nurture, we must continue to care for that through acts of mutual assistance and of constant and amicable dialogue.
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I assure the Chinese government that the Philippines will always work for the strengthening of our ties and the advancement of our mutual interests, and they are many.
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As we walk to the next half century of our diplomatic ties, let this day be a celebration of many things for us.
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The diligence and hard work of our farmers, our realizable goal of food self-sufficiency, and the lasting beneficial impact of the longstanding friendly ties between our two nations.
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Mabuhay ang ugnayan ng Pilipinas at ng China. Mabuhay ang agrikultura ng Pilipinas at ang mga magsasakang Pilipino. Maraming salamat po sa inyo lahat, at magandang umarap.
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Thank you, Mr. President. At this point, may we request the President to kindly grant us a photo opportunity. May we invite on stage the provincial agriculturists from Luzon.
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Fertilizer and pesticide authority and other agencies, please stand by.
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May we request the members of the DA Regional and Technical Directors, Brides and Focal Persons to please stand by.
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Thank you. Please exit to your right. Next, members of the DA Regional and Technical Directors, Brides and Focal Persons, please stand by.
