DA eyes to revive funds under US PL 480 program

Less than a month until the visit of US President Donald Trump in the country, the Philippine government is now eyeing to resurrect the billions of pesos worth of funds that were left unused under the US Public Law 480 (US PL 480) program.

In an interview, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said that he is set to brief President Rodrigo Duterte about the agriculture-related matters that should be brought up by the Philippine government to Trump should a bilateral meeting between the two Presidents takes place.

"We're now preparing for the arrival of Trump in the second week of November. I already have listed down the things that I would like to brief President Duterte about. First, the utilization of the remaining R1.5 billion under US PL 480 which has stayed idle for many years," Piñol told reporters.

The PL 480 program, also known as the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act, was enacted in 1934 by the American government so they could put to good use their agricultural productivity to help developing countries like Philippines address their food security.

Since it was launched, the Philippines has received hundreds of millions of dollars worth of grant from the US under PL 480, which includes loan agreements meant to fund agricultural projects such as Farm-To-Market Roads (FMR).

In one instance, the Philippines particularly received $40 million in soft commodity loans in 2003 under the program, which was offered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the form of 86,500 metric tons (MT) of rice and 7,900 MT of feed grains.

Piñol said that as of now, there is still about R1.5 billion worth of funds under PL 480 that has not been used and was left idling at the National Treasury due to lack of programs.

Had he known earlier, Piñol said he would have proposed for the funds to be included in the 2018 budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

"It has got to be included in the budget of DA for it to be utilized. We can used this in 2019 but it’s a good thing that we know about it now so we could prepare right away," the agri chief said.

According to Piñol, he intends to use the fund for the country's proposed dairy program.

"We had a meeting with USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and we presented to them our proposed dairy program, which would span three years starting 2019 to 2021, and they agreed with our proposal," Piñol said.

"It will be a dairy goat milk production program. We will meet with the dairy goat raisers of America because I don't want them to bring goat of low quality here like what they did before. What we intend to do now is to choose the best genetics from the American goat breeders," he further said.

Based on the Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report of USDA Foreign Agricultural Services, the Philippines produces less than one percent of its total annual dairy requirement and imports the balance.

This year, local milk production is projected to reach 22,000 metric tons and will likely continue expanding on an annual basis due to increasing consumer preference for fresh milk and improved dairying capabilities, the GAIN report added.

Data from the National Data Authority showed that local milk production (from cattle, carabao, and goats) was 21,160 metric tons (MT) in 2016, up from 20,390 MT in 2015. The value of dairy production in 2015 amounted to R715 million ($14 million).

Meanwhile, Piñol also said that he wants Duterte to mention to Trump about the country's request for the US government to allow the entry of fresh young coconuts to the US.

Trump is set to travel to Manila in November as the last leg of his 12-day trip to Asia. He is scheduled to join other heads of state in the special gala celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on November 12. He is also expected to attend the ASEAN-US summit on November 13.

An earlier report showed that a bilateral meeting between Trump and Duterte is still being arranged on the sidelines of the the regional summit.