Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 987 
Introduced by Representative Ivan Howard A. Guintu 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Section 5, Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution provides that the State “shall 
provide support to agricultura through appropriate technology and research, and adequate 
financial, production, marketing, and other support services.” 
Despite the abundance of arable land and marine resources in the country, the 
contribution of the agricultura sector to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has been 
declining over the past years. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), 
agricultura, fisheries and forestry (AFF) comprised 8.9% of the total GDP in 2022, 
comparatively lower to its 9.6% share in 2021. 
The decline in the agricultura sector can be attributed to multiple factors, one of 
which is the outdated agricultural data gathering procedures and methods at the local 
government unit level. More often than not, agricultura data are outdated and not readily 
accesible and available to the public. The lack of complete and real0time data on agricutlural 
products avaiable at the local level has led to a mismatch between production and demand, 
resulting in either: (1) oversupply which leads to wastage of unsold agricultura godos, or (2) 
undersupply which leads to exorbitant prices of agricultural commodities. 
It is already a common scenario in our agricultura sector where the overproduction 
of certain agricultural produce would force farmers to dump their produce since they would 
incur more losses of they market and sell their products at an extremenly low Price. In early 
February 2023, it was reported that more than five hundred kilos of tomatoes were dumped by 
farmers in the province of Nueva Vizcaya. Provincial authorities cited as one of the reasons for 
the failure to adress the oversupply was the lack of linkaegs with other provinces on the 
volumen of their production. 
With accesible and readily available real-time data, farmers will have more 
information at their disposal to aid their decision-making in terms of choosing what to plant 
and when to plan in order to avoid overproduction of certain crops or vegetables that may 
ultimately lead to wastage, especially of perishable agricultural goods. Furthermore, a database 
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containing real-time inventory of all agricultural commodities available in various local 
communities can make the agricultural market more efficient since traders can easily identify 
localities where there is an overconcentration of certain agricultural goods and markets them 
to places that have high demand for such.  
Thus, this proposed measure aims to establish the Agricultural Information System 
(AIS) in all cities and municipalities in the country. The AIS shall contain an up-to-date 
database of agricultural and fisheries products, crop harvest, volumen, type forcasting as wel 
as demographics of farmers and fisherfolks and shall be integrated and linked to one centralized 
database under the Department of Agriculture. The measure also aims to set up data tolos 
including a search engine, a customizable dashboard and a crop calendar, among others, to aid 
users in the access and interpretation of data available in the AIS. 
This proposed measure is the version approved on third Reading in the 19th 
Congress. 
In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this measure is earnestly sought. 
IVAN HOWARD A. GUINTU 
Representative, 1st District of Capiz


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.  987 
Introduced by Representative Ivan Howard A. Guintu 
AN ACT 
ESTABLISHING AN AGRICULTURE INFORMATION SYSTEM IN ALL CITIES AND 
MUNICIPALITIES 
Be it  enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Agriculture Information System Act.” 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is the policy of the State to uplift the socioeconomic conditions of 
farmers and farming communities nationwide in order to promote their welfare and empower their 
sector in the overall development and progress of the country. Pursuant to this, an integrated, 
computerized, web-based agricultural commodity supply inventory and registry system linking 
farmers and organized communities all over the country needs to be established to provide an easy-to- 
access local and global real time information for agricultural commodities, with an end view of 
creating a wider range of market linkages among farmers and agricultural buyers. Furthermore, 
through a synchronized agriculture information system, the National Government shall have access 
to real-time agricultural information which can rationalize the objectives and policy directives in 
the agricultural sector. 
SEC. 3. Objectives. – This Act aims to attain the following objectives: 
(a)
Provide an up-to-date database of agricultural and fisheries products in a locality;
(b)
Foster information sharing between farmers and potential buyers of agricultural and
fisheries products;
(c)
Secure a market for agricultural and fisheries products and ensure appropriate return of
investment for farmers and fisheries stakeholders;


(d) 
Allow local government units to manage a secure and independent platform that creates 
linkages for farmers and fisheries stakeholders; 
(e) 
Provide data on specific commodities that are readily available in a particular locality for 
purposes of production monitoring in order to meet the demands of the market; 
(f) 
Provide a secure, transparent, and independent modern web application that may be 
accessed anytime by the public through a multi-platform support or cross-platform support 
devices which can be linked to existing systems in the Department of Agriculture (DA); 
(g) 
Streamline training and seminars in the management of the operations; 
(h) 
Monitor the use of inputs given by producers, buyers, and other segments of the value-chain 
including information during post-harvest and processing; and 
(i) 
Ensure that all forms of assistance given to local government units (LGUs), registered 
cooperatives and other qualified individuals and organizations are monitored. 
 
SEC. 4. Agriculture Information System. – All cities and municipalities are hereby mandated to 
establish an Agriculture Information System (AIS). The AIS shall serve as a dynamic online 
computer database where information on the demand for specific agricultural and fisheries 
commodities is gathered and uploaded simultaneously with the production data from farmers in 
every barangay. The AIS shall merge and synchronize agricultural data from different sources into a 
cohesive database designed to facilitate linkages from place of origin or the farm to local, and 
ultimately, global markets. The AIS shall also be integrated with the existing systems of the DA. 
The information system shall have the following features and contents: 
(a) 
Municipal and city-wide identification of individual farmers, fish breeders, and fisherfolk 
as well as qualified organizations which produce specific farm and fisheries products, 
regardless of quantity; 
(b) 
Crop harvest, volume, and type forecasting; 
(c) 
Inventory of specific classification of crop varieties planted, livestock and type of fish 
raised in a particular LGU; 
(d) 
Farmers' and fisherfolk demographics, including age group, gender, ethnic group, income, 
seminars and trainings attended, and assistance received; 
(e) 
Selected reports presented in both tabular and graphical form; 
(f) 
Registry of farmers’ contact details and farm location to facilitate market linkages; 
(g) 
Search engine which allows farmers, fish breeders, and fisherfolk to look for potential and 
actual buyers and for such buyers to search for farms, farmers, and available agricultural 
and fisheries products; and 
(h) 
Customizable dashboard which is accessible only to registered farmers and fisherfolk 
clients and contains the farmers’ and fisherfolk’s profile such as the area of the farm or 
fishpond, crops planted, livestock and type of fish raised. 


 
SEC. 5. Registration. – All cities and municipalities shall encourage and facilitate the free 
registration of all farmers, fisherfolk, as well as buyers transacting within their respective areas in 
the Information System. 
 
SEC. 6. Functions and Responsibilities of Cities and Municipalities. – The LGU shall exercise 
the following functions and responsibilities: 
(a) 
The Municipal Agriculture Office, in coordination with the Municipal Agrarian Reform 
Office, shall gather, encode, and consolidate all pertinent data on the profile and 
demographics of farmers, fisherfolk as well as buyers; 
(b) 
Monitor and control farm inputs including machineries and equipment; 
(c) 
For municipalities and component cities, prepare and submit real time data under (a) and 
(b) to the provincial agricultural office and to the respective regional offices of the DA; 
 
 
(d) 
For highly urbanized cities, submit real time data to the respective regional offices of the 
DA; 
(e) 
Establish farmer and buyer linkages and act as a gatekeeper at the city or municipal level 
in the nationwide marketing of agricultural products; and 
(f) 
Serve as the web administrator at the municipal or city level and be responsible for 
integrating farm and fisheries locations into the geographic integration system map. 
 
SEC. 7. Functions and Responsibilities of the Province. – The provincial government shall have 
the following functions and responsibilities: 
(a) 
The Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) is the web administrator at the 
provincial level and is responsible for integrating farm and fisheries data into the 
geographic integration system maps for agriculture and fisheries; 
(b) 
The Local Economic and Investment Promotion Office (LEIPO) acts as the lead 
administrator of the AIS in the provincial level and ensures the balance between supply 
and demand; 
(c) 
The Provincial Agricultural Office monitors the submission of reports from municipalities and 
 
component cities, and ensures the completeness, accuracy, and validity of data submitted 
by the Municipal Agricultural Offices and the Municipal Agrarian Reform Offices; and 
(d) 
Except for highly urbanized cities, prepare and submit such data to the regional office of 
the DA.


 
 
SEC. 8. Functions and Responsibilities of the Regional Office of the DA. – The regional office 
of the DA shall have the following functions and responsibilities: 
(a) 
Integrate the data provided by the provinces and highly urbanized cities in the existing 
information systems of the DA such as the National Farmers and Fisheries Information 
System (NFFIS) which is a web-based data collection system that serves as a platform for 
updating the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA); 
(b) 
Collaborate with the regional offices of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in 
order to facilitate the availment of the various programs of the DTI as well as strengthen 
market linkages through such programs; 
(c) 
Recommend to the central office of the DA appropriate interventions in the form of 
marketing, importation, and training assistance, as may be needed; 
(d) 
Validate the data from the LGUs acting as the system administrator at the regional level 
and provide real-time report to the central office of the DA; and 
(e) 
Endorse for financial assistance the qualified fifth and sixth class municipalities that can 
be given assistance in establishing and maintaining their respective AIS. 
 
SEC. 9. Functions and Responsibilities of the Central Office of the DA. – The central office of the 
DA shall have the following functions and responsibilities: 
(a) 
Allocate funding for the integration of the AIS with existing information systems; 
(b) 
Coordinate with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) 
to upgrade, expand, and integrate its information systems; 
(c) 
Ensure that the implementation, appropriate verification processes and information 
safeguards are in place pursuant to existing laws and regulations, in coordination with the 
DICT, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), National Privacy Commission (NPC), 
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Science 
and Technology (DOST); 
(d) 
Approve the prioritized interventions by the regional offices and allocate corresponding 
funding; 
(e) 
Collaborate with other agencies for the creation of market linkages in the domestic and 
international markets; and 
(f) 
Provide safety nets in the import and export of agricultural products in order to support 
farmers. 
 
SEC. 10.  Duties of the Secretary.  – The Secretary of the DA shall monitor and ensure the 
compliance of all cities and municipalities as provided for under this Act and shall, as soon as 
practicable, establish a centralized AIS that shall integrate and link all existing agriculture 
information systems in the country. 


 
 
SEC. 11. Reports. – The Secretary of the DA shall prepare and submit to the President and both 
Houses of Congress an annual report on the implementation of the program which shall contain 
information on accomplishments achieved and recommendations for improvements thereof. 
 
SEC. 12. Appropriations. – The Secretary of Agriculture shall include in the Department’s programs the 
establishment of the integrated and centralized AIS, the funding of which shall be included in the 
annual General Appropriations Act. The LGUs shall provide the necessary funds for the 
establishment of an AIS in their respective annual budgets. 
 
SEC. 13. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within ninety (90) days after the effectivity of 
this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall promulgate rules and regulations for the effective 
implementation of this Act. 
 
SEC. 14. Separability Clause. – If any provision of this Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the 
other provisions not affected by such declaration shall remain in full force and effect. 
 
SEC. 15. Repealing Clause. – All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations or 
parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified 
accordingly. 
 
SEC. 16. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official 
Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
 
 
Approved,