Dennis Gaviola

Article (news)

Rowena Caronan

At midterm, Marcos’ agriculture and health targets are falling short

In President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.s’ first three SONAs from 2022 to 2024, ABS-CBN Fact Check tracked nine promises his administration has vowed to address in the agriculture and health sectors. One was completed, four are in progress, and four are yet to be assessed due to a lack of available data.

ABS-CBN Research and Verification Unit

<div>[[PHOTO ALBUM]]</div><p>By the time President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. takes the stage on July 28 to deliver his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), he is already halfway through his term.</p><p>In Marcos’ first three SONAs from 2022 to 2024, ABS-CBN Fact Check tracked a total of nine promises or issues his administration has vowed to address in the agriculture and health sectors.</p><p>Of the president’s nine SONA promises in the two sectors, one was completed, four are still in progress, and four are yet to be assessed due to a lack of available data.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>A declining sector</strong></div><p>In his past SONAs, Marcos promised to tackle the food supply problem and prioritize local production by modernizing farming, supporting farmers and fisherfolk, and investing in research, particularly in developing vaccines.</p><p>While Marcos had indeed delivered farm inputs and machinery worth at least P1.7 billion to farmers and fisherfolk since 2023, delivering real change to the agriculture and fishing sector is another story.</p><p>In Marcos&#x27; first two years in office, the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector showed modest growth as it continued to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. But the sector contracted by 1.6% in 2024, based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The biggest drop came from livestock and crops, falling by 4% and 3.7%, respectively, while fisheries went down by 1.2%. Poultry was the lone bright spot, growing 6.6%.</p><p>The sector’s contribution to the economy, as a share of its production in national output or gross domestic product, has stayed under 10%. It has also been on a downward trajectory since 2015. Under Marcos’ term, the figure continued to decline, from 8.9% in 2022 to 8.6% in 2023 to just 8% last year.</p><p>Based on PSA’s data, the Philippines also continues to import more farm and fishery products than it exports. It registered a trade deficit of USD11.8 trillion in 2022 and USD11.5 trillion in 2023.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Rising prices</strong></div><p>To tackle rising prices while supporting farmers and consumers, Marcos has been pushing to expand and formalize KADIWA stores. These stores are government-supported retail outlets that sell locally produced products directly to consumers, helping cut down middleman costs and increase farmers’ income.</p><p>According to data from the Department of Agriculture (DA) as of June 15, 2025, there are now 283 KADIWA stores, 169 pop-up stores, and 120 KADIWA Centers. Meanwhile, 96 ‘Kadiwa ng Pangulo’ events had been held in coordination with other national government agencies. These numbers are far from the DA’s target of 1,500 sites.</p><p>Following Marcos’ directive, DA also rolled out its African Swine Fever vaccination program in 2024 to combat the outbreak that has reduced the country’s swine population by 60% since 2019.</p><p>In March 2025, DA Spokesperson Arnel V. De Mesa was quoted in a news report as saying 28,000 doses of the 160,000 vaccines available were administered in 29 farms that participated in the program.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Modest gains</strong></div><p>In the health sector, Marcos vowed to build specialty hospitals, expand health centers, and strengthen the healthcare workforce. Although some headway had been achieved, real progress is yet to be seen.</p><p>Data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed an increase in the overall number of health centers and barangay health stations in the country from 2022 to 2024. This translates to roughly 300 people fewer that each health facility had to cater to, on average.</p><p>There are also 86 ‘Super Health Facilities’ across the country and 46 Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service (BUCAS) Centers.</p><p>In August 2023, Marcos signed into law Republic Act No. 11959, or the Regional Specialty Centers Act, which mandates DOH to establish specialty centers in each of the country’s regions.</p><p>Although there are 131 specialty centers across 14 regions in the country as of 2023, four regions are still without. These four regions are MIMAROPA, Negros Island Region, Caraga, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Ongoing targets</strong></div><p>Marcos also promised to establish the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) and the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines (VVIP). </p><p>The proposed CDC aims to act as the technical authority for forecasting, analyzing, strategizing, and developing standards for the prevention and control of diseases. Meanwhile, the proposed VVIP will focus on research and development of vaccines, diagnostic kits, and therapeutics for viruses.</p><p>Bills creating the CDC and VVIP have lingered in Congress. However, construction of facilities that will make up the VVIP has already started in 2022.</p><p>Meanwhile, the shortage of healthcare professionals is a perennial problem in the country and continues to be so under the Marcos’ administration.</p><p>According to DOH data as of December 2022, the country has 210,054 health professionals. With an estimated population of more than 111 million, this equals 18.33 health workers per 10,000 people, which is significantly lower than the World Health Organization standard of 44.5 per 10,000 people.</p><p>Moreover, the number of public doctors and nurses nationwide decreased from 27,008 in 2022 to 23,458 in 2023.</p><div><strong><em>-- with research and reporting from Kevin Luis Fernandez, ABS-CBN Research and Verification Unit</em></strong></div>

<p>In President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.s’ first three SONAs from 2022 to 2024, ABS-CBN Fact Check tracked nine promises his administration has vowed to address in the agriculture and health sectors. One was completed, four are in progress, and four are yet to be assessed due to a lack of available data.</p>

At midterm, Marcos’ agriculture and health targets remain unmet

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At midterm, Marcos’ agriculture and health targets remain unmet

Rowena Caronan,

ABS-CBN Research and Verification Unit

Published Jul 27, 2025 10:33 PM PHT

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Updated Jul 27, 2025 11:03 PM PHT

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State of the Nation Address

SONA

SONA promises

SONA tracker

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

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farmers

fisherfolk

healthcare workers

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