The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) and the National Trade Union Center of the Philippines (NTUC PHL) on Monday called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to establish a Basic Sectors Advisory Council (BSAC) to ensure direct, ongoing dialogue between the administration and the country’s farmers, fishers and workers.
FFF chairman and NTUC PHL vice-president Leonardo Montemayor said the proposed BSAC would mirror the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC), chaired by billionaire businessman Sabin Aboitiz, but focus on ordinary Filipinos who fuel the nation’s food security and labor force.
“Having BSAC will inform the President on the perspective of ordinary Filipinos and help him create a more balanced approach to policy making and program execution. It will also temper the general perception that the President’s economic team is primarily pro-big business and pro-foreign investor,” Montemayor said.
Montemayor said that without a formal channel for basic sectors, the administration risks appearing aligned mainly with big business and foreign investors.
