THE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Sunday said it has received the P50 million it has requested from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for distribution as fuel assistance to farmers to cushion the impact of rising fuel prices amid the war in Iran.
The funds are classified as a “sub-allotment,” which the DA Central Office (DA-CO) will disburse to its regional field offices. These are part of the P150 million in unused fuel subsidy funds in the DA‘s 2025 budget, which can be utilized until December 2026.
Based on data from the Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering, some 9,570 farmers, who rely on mechanized equipment that run on fuel, will each receive P5,000 from the sub-allotment.
To qualify, farmers — who own or rent farming machinery, regardless of the crops they cultivate — should be on the list of the DA‘s Registry System for the Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) as provided in the General Appropriations Act.
The funds will just provide short-term relief, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said, since it only partially addresses the farming sector‘s vulnerability to unstable fuel prices.
Diesel eats up a chunk of operating costs during planting and harvest cycles in planting.
“We will continue to look for resources to extend greater assistance to our farmers and fisherfolk — our food producers who are among those most affected by this geopolitical conflict that we are not part of,” Tiu Laurel said.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is disbursing a separate fuel subsidy for fisherfolk from the P150-million fund, said the DA.
Global oil prices had breached the $80-per-barrel threshold as a result of the US-Israel war on Iran, which has entered its third week.
Certification from the Department of Energy showed that the 30-day average prices reached $89.02/barrel as of March 13, based on the Mean of Platts Singapore, the average of daily oil price assessments (gasoline, diesel, etc.) for refined petroleum products published by S&P Global. It serves as a benchmark for setting oil prices in Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, acting as a direct reference for importing petroleum products.
