The implementation next year of the Mandanas-Garcia ruling which will provide as much as P234 billion additional funds for local government units (LGUs) must be paired with localized agricultural extension services as well as technical and marketing assistance, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
DA Secretary William Dar said LGUs, state universities and colleges, the private sector, farmers’ and fisherfolk’s organizations can work together to ensure the smooth transition to the province-led agriculture and fisheries extension systems (PAFES).
The Mandanas-Garcia ruling provides more funds available for local coffers but less for the national government after the Supreme Court decided the share from the internal revenue allotment of LGUs does not exclude other national taxes like customs duties.
“PAFES would serve as the modality of implementing banner programs in the provinces.
Under the system, we at the national government will do the steering while, the LGUs will do the rowing,” Dar said in a statement.
DA said through PAFES, the agency will help boost the capabilities of provincial LGUs in implementing agri-fishery extension services and integrating multiple programs with the provinces as the hub of operations.
“We have to understand that agriculture is local. Agriculture is provincial. Therefore, the LGUs are in a much better position in identifying and supplying these services that would bring more progress to the countryside, and make the country food-secure and resilient,” Dar added.
Dar said the potential of the country’s agriculture and fishery sector could be further harnessed given appropriate budgetary support and much-needed private sector investments including those coming from the LGUs.
Last year, the Philippines’ agriculture performance contracted by 1.2 percent compared to 2019’s 0.7 percent growth mainly attributed to the effects of the pandemic and the typhoons that hit the country.
“For 2022, we are proposing a budget of P250 billion, which is three times more than this year. We pray that the country’s agriculture sector could be afforded that long-delayed financial support so the Philippines could keep pace at least with our counterparts in the Asean region,” Dar said. – J. Macapagal
