P9.8-B unspent DA funds enough to help 600-K farmers, fishermen
MABALACAT CITY --- Some 653, 000 farmers and fishermen may have been aided with a P15,000 production subsidy from the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) P9.8 billion unspent 2020 budget.
This was according to the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA).
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) on its study on the 2020 Commission on Audit (COA) report revealed that P9.8 billion or 17 percent of the DA’s P59 billion total budget last year were returned to the national treasury.
PAMALAKAYA said that along with rural-based progressive groups, they have been seeking a P15, 000 subsidy intended for livelihood and production expenses to “pump-prime the wheels of production” of the marginalized fisherfolks and farmers amid the COVID 19 pandemic accompanied with burdensome quarantine restrictions.
The fishers’group said that the agricultural production subsidy for fishers will be apportioned mostly for fuel expenses which eat up almost 80 percent of a regular fishing trip.
“The subsidy that we have been seeking could have stimulated the production of more than 600,000 rural-based food producers. The unstable food supply and prices in the market could have been avoided if the government heeded the demand of the country’s food security front liners,” said Fernando Hicap, PAMALAKAYA national chair. The group reiterated that DA should explain the surplus funds to the public supposedly for the welfare of farmers and fishers.
PAMALAKAYA even urged the DA to maximize its remaining budget for the year in the form of a subsidy to strengthen agricultural and fisheries production.
“Apart from the explanation, the DA is morally and mandatorily compelled to strengthen local food production via support on farmers and fishers to ensure domestic food security amid the public health crisis,” added Hicap.
The production subsidy proposal was filed by the Makabayan block in the congress under the House Bill 9192.