President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday expressed elation after meeting a 98-year-old coconut farmer in Malacañang and expressed commitment that his government will step up efforts to assure Filipino farmers will “live by virtue of their hard work.”

The President, in a chance interview, shared his light moment with Maman Buanoy Layom, a 98-year-old coconut farmer from Palawan province, during a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signing for the Kapatid Angat Lahat Agri Program (KALAP) in Malacañang.

“Tinatanong ko kung ano ‘yung kinakain niya kasi I want to live that long also and be that strong when I’m his age. No what he was telling me what that nakilala daw niya ‘yung father ko. And he was saying that so ngayon dalawa na ‘yung nakilala kong Pangulong Marcos,” the President said.

“Tapos sabi ko – I asked him where was he, how did he meet my father kasi mukhang outstanding farmer na siya noon pa kaya medyo lumabas na. So lumabas na ‘yung pangalan niya. Pero ngayon naging oldest farmer pa siya,” the President added.

Layom is a beneficiary of Lionheart Farms, one of the firms in the Philippines helping small farmers.

“He’s a very interesting man. He has stories he could tell. But in a little time we had I think we enjoyed ourselves,” the President pointed out.

In his speech, the President said it his hope “that we will be able to say [to] our millennial farmers… [that they] are using the best technologies with the complete support of a value chain that supports them and that supports their needs.”

“One day we will do this but we need all of you and we need everyone in our society to pull together to be able to do this,” the President said.

The chief executive also called on small and medium business owners, farmers and fisherfolk to continue improving their operations and businesses and aspire for expansion with the signing of the MOA on the KALAP program. (PND)