The Department of Agriculture is fast-tracking the Clark National Food Hub with the full backing of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., moving the project from planning to construction.
The project gained formal momentum with the signing of agreements between the DA and Food Terminal Inc. covering funding, development and operations, and between FTI and Clark International Airport Corp. covering around 40 hectares at the Clark Aviation Capital in Pampanga, with provisions for future expansion.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. has directed FTI President Joseph Lo and Agriculture Undersecretary Arrey Perez to have the Mega Food Hub partially operational before the end of 2027.
The hub will bring together food aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and marketing in one integrated system. Planned facilities include food and cold-storage facilities, processing areas, food safety laboratories, export processing facilities, and wholesale and retail spaces.
FTI will operate, manage, and maintain the facility, with a mandate to make it efficient and sustainable. The DA will oversee project implementation and construction monitoring.
Once fully scaled up, the hub is expected to support about 2,500 jobs and create opportunities across the agriculture and fisheries value chains.
With P4 billion now committed, the groundwork now in place and the first phase moving toward construction, the government is putting the pieces together. ### (Photos & Text by DA – OSEC Comms)
