DA targets to give assistance to 800,000 farmers under the ₱24-B allocation of Bayanihan 2
Published Aug 28, 2020 7:22:39 PM
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28) — The Department of Agriculture said it is targeting to give assistance to 800,000 farmers through the ₱24-billion budget for the sector under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, or the Bayanihan 2.
Agriculture chief William Dar told CNN Philippines’ The Exchange that aside from this, ₱4 billion will be set aside for other sectors, namely fisheries, upland agriculture, coconut, and sugarcane industries.
On graft and corruption issues, Dar said the department already put in place mechanisms to ensure that this will be avoided. One of which is the creation of integrity circles that will ensure graft-free use of agriculture funds.
“Nililinisan po natin ang Kagawaran ng Magsasaka (We are cleaning the Department of Agriculture). I will assure you that,” Dar said.
The ₱165.5-billion Bayanihan 2 was already ratified by both the House of Representatives and Senate that aims to assist the government in its COVID-19 response. Of the ₱140-billion regular appropriation, ₱24 billion was allocated to assist the agricultural sector and the department’s Plant, Plant, Plant initiative.
Bayanihan 1 gave President Rodrigo Duterte the power to realign the national budget to address the pandemic, bulk of which was used for emergency aid to Filipinos affected by the lockdown.
Meanwhile, Dar also assured that the country has enough food supply. This is further reflected on the sector’s 1.6-percent growth despite the global health crisis.
“Ang ating mga magsasaka at mangingisda (Our farmers and fisherfolk) in spite of being disrupted, about 15 percent of them, and in spite, some like the level of 35 percent… they were not able to market their produce… overall we have enough food supply,” Dar explained.
Dar added that logistics issues caused by the community quarantine were already addressed as well.
The government imposed community quarantine in the whole country to control the spread of the COVID-19. This led to many businesses to temporarily shut down, and transportation to stop operations.
This resulted in many farmers having no way and no one to sell their harvests to, with some opting to throw away their produce, while some gave theirs away for free.
The agriculture department launched programs to address the issue, one of which is through the direct marketing program Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita, wherein it also partnered with private institutions and local government units to purchase farmers’ harvests.
Despite the crisis, only the agriculture sector reported a growth in terms of output at 1.6 percent, versus contractions in industry at 22.9 percent and services at 15.8 percent.
