The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday said it was preparing a P100-million fuel subsidy for farmers and fishers as oil prices continued to rally on the fifth day of the Israel-US war on Iran.
DA Spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the agency was studying all possible effects of the geopolitical tension on the agriculture sector.
“Nagwo-worry tayo dito sa department kung magiging pangmatagalan itong sigalot sa Gitnang Silangan kasi alam natin malaki yung indirect effect sa Middle East nung ating sektor. May epekto yan doon sa gastusin ng ating mga magsasaka or course sa pangisdaan, pagmahal ang gasolina, mahal ang pangingisda,” De Mesa told reporters.
He said the P100-million fund for fuel subsidy was already downloaded to the agency and readily available for distribution to qualified beneficiaries.
“Actually, meron tayong budget last year yung 2025 natin na fuel subsidy for our farmers and fishers, hindi yun nagamit so ngayon, gagamitin yun," said De Mesa.
"Meron na tayong memorandum circular 35 and 42 na kumbaga ito yung guidelines for the implementation nun. So P50 million for farmers and P50 million for fishers…na-released na ‘to sa DA galing sa DBM at itong memorandum circular na ‘to spells out yung mechanics on how to implement,” he said.
Eligible farmer beneficiaries will receive P5,000 each, while eligible fishermen will receive P3,000. But based on the guidelines, they must meet several criteria, including registration to the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture, and ownership of machinery, or boats, among others.
He added that an additional P50 million could be tapped, equally divided to fisherfolks and farmers.
Based on DA’s database, there are about 14,354 qualified farmers and 14,947 qualified fishers for this program.
But according to PAMALAKAYA National President Fernando Hicap, this is not enough.
“Kung sa 2.7 million na registered fisherfolks tapos mahigit 14,000 lang yung allocation mo na mangangisda yung magiging beneficiary ng subsidy..malinaw na ano yan…band-aid [solution] at pakitang-tao lamang," Hicap said.
"Malinaw na hindi seryoso ang gobyerno ni Pangulong Bongbong Marcos at Department of Agriculture na tulungan yung mga mangingisda at magsasaka na patuloy na naapektuhan ng pagtaas ng produktong petrolyo,” according to Hicap.
Hicap admitted that the P3,000 fuel subsidy could help, but was insufficient given the difficulty faced by the sector.
“Hindi siya sasapat doon sa ngayon, lalo na sa banta ng possible na pinamalaki na pagtaas dahil sa giyera sa Middle East,” Hicap said.
What the government should do is to suspend at least temporarily the implementation of the value-added tax (VAT) and excise tax for petroleum products, he said.
