“When you set a budget, you are taking control of the future.” – Anonymous
The 19th Congress started its budget deliberations in August and will end on September 25, before session takes a long recess, giving way in preparation for next year’s midterm elections. With confidence, Senate President Francis Escudero declared that the 2025 proposed budget of 6.352 trillion pesos will be done before the end of the year, as scheduled. The proposed 2025 budget is 10 percent higher than this year’s budget.
It quite took a backseat courtesy of the POGO hearings “in aid of legislation” in the house of representatives where it amalgamated four committees sensationally dubbed as the “quadcom,” first time in the history of Philippine congress. Its counterpart, the Senate, alternately hears the same and the 2025 budget having a quite tumultuous run, highlighted by the Office of the Vice President.
For more than a month, the Filipino people were hooked to Congress with “stellar performances” by its two main characters, starring Alice Guo and Vice President Sarah Duterte. Adding more spice is the grapevine’s smelling recipe of another Senate coup sourly dismissed by the former Senate President himself Migz Zubiri as “normal,” saying “before the Senate comes to a recess, talks of leadership coup usually happens”.
WHAT ABOUT (AGRICULTURE) BUDGET?
Arguably, this political “intramural” creates a mindset that the 2025 budget is on a delayed pace. A delay in the approval of the budget, is a delay in the delivery of the basic and fundamental services due the Filipino people. Proportionally pork barrels and controversial insertions will also be delayed. The 19th Congress takes a recess from September 27 to November 3, and with the unfinished showdown on POGO, the 2025 budget approval might be in limbo.
Particularly, I am more concerned that the agriculture budget might be sidelined, caused by this “intramural” in Congress. The Department of Agriculture proposed a P208B budget, substantially larger from last year’s approved one. The budget is mainly for the modernization of farm and fisheries sectors, ensuring food security, as well as increasing income of farmers and the fisherfolk. Other subsectors’ allocations are cross-cutting programs broken down as follows: P34.5B; high value crops, P32B; livestock, P28.56B; foreign-assisted, P13.77B; corn, P11.3B; and credit program, P3.38B.
LOOKING BACK
The 2023 budget is worth looking back at how it impacted the sector, especially on measures against importation policies that clearly put agriculture at a disadvantaged position. Two contrasting arguments are played down on how the budget impacted agriculture, which is logical because of its positive and negative effects. However, the more contentious point is which of the two outweighed the other.
Last year saw agriculture with increased funding to address productivity and food insufficiency. Initiatives such as temporary easing of import restrictions to ensure food security, price monitoring and targeted social support were implemented. Infrastructure projects were also initiated with agri-business plus stable supply of energy. Lastly, the sector was reportedly resilient against inflation with adequate supply of essential food needs such as vegetables, meat and fish.
On the flipside, others argued that the 2023 budget constrained the government’s efforts on climate change impacts, which caused floods and drought heavily inflicting damage to crops and disrupted their natural production cycles and season. This caused food insecurity resorting to importation of high in-demand products that cost us 12B in agriculture alone. From a wider perspective, climate change created a global food crisis, including the Philippines. The country’s hunger incidences were 12 percent in 2022, 10.4 in 2023 and 14.2 percent in the first half of this year.
EXPECTATIONS AND DOUBTS
This year’s budget can be logically assessed according to its components broken down to 30.9 billion for the National Rice Program to increase rice production, P10 billion for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) to support farmers with rice seed development, loans, and agricultural equipment. Also, P5.3 billion for National Corn Program, P4.3 billion for National Livestock Program, P1.9 billion for the National High-Value Crops Development Program, P1 billion for the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s development program, P6.9 billion for the National Fisheries Program to improve agri-fishery practices and product quality.
One should ask, did the budget go to where they were supposed to go? Do farmers benefit from all of these and if so, to what extent? There are two narratives pursued and if you ask me which side I am on – I would say, I am with farmers. After all, policies or laws if undecided must favor the underprivileged.*
