SEN. Cynthia Villar yesterday questioned the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) allotment of P131.5 billion, or 80 percent of its proposed P163.5 billion budget for 2023, for its “programs and plans.”
Villar, during the Senate budget briefing on DA’s proposed budget for next year, likewise noted the “small” allocations for the agency’s other units and offices.
The senator, who is the chairperson of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, said she has not seen any department allot bulk of its budget for programs and plans, which she said the DA might have a difficult time to implement in a year’s time.
Villar said: “Wala pa akong nakitang department na ganyan. ‘Yang breakdown mo parang mali ‘yan. I-explain mo sa akin ‘yan in private, kasi wala pa akong nakitang department na ganyan hitsura — 80 percent ang programs. I don’t think so… ibigay mo sa akin ang breakdown baka minis-classify niyo yan. I think something is wrong here (I have not seen a department with that kind of allocation. There seems something wrong with your breakdown. Explain it to me in private because I have not seen a department whose budget looks like that — 80 percent for programs. I don’t think so… Give me the breakdown, you might have misclassified that. I think something’s wrong here).”
She directed the DA officials present during the hearing to furnish the Senate a detailed breakdown of the proposed P131.5 billion for programs and plans, even as she recalled that the Senate has in the past decreased to 50 percent the 61 percent budget of the department’s overhead expenses.
Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban asked Villar if they can give another budget presentation today so they can give more details of the proposed expenses.
Villar replied: “I just want to have a summary of this because every department they give a summary of this — the PS (personnel services), the overhead, the regulatory, the research, and the programs. So, I can have a general idea, and for you also who are managing the department, you have a general idea, of what’s happening in your department,” Villar said.
“I know this is your first time, but I cannot understand this because it is very different from the budget presented to me by different administrations. Masyadong mataas itong programs na ito (the budget for programs is too high),” she added.
The senator said departments usually find it hard to use 45 percent of their budget for program and activities, “what more if that is 80 percent.”
“How come your programs is 80 percent? Parang nag-himala. Hindi possible ito kasi your PS (personnel services) and overhead is parang consistent ‘yan kasi hindi naman ninyo puwedeng tanggalin ‘yung mga empleyado niyo bigla. I mean it can vary siguro within 10 percent, pero hindi ganito kataas (That is not possible because your PS and overhead [expenses] should be consistent because it is not likely that you have abruptly fired your employees. I mean this can vary maybe within 10 percent but not this high),” she also said.
Telma Tolentino, director of the DA’s financial management service, said each of the department’s nine attached agencies and eight attached corporations will submit a detailed breakdown of how the budget will be spent for next year.
‘SMALL BUDGET’
Villar likewise noted the “small” budgets that the DA allocated for personnel services, which is 7.48 percent or P12.2 billion; overhead expenses at P15.09 billion or 9.22 percent; regulatory at P2.8 billion, which represents 1.72 percent; and research at P1.99 billion or 1.22 percent.
She said the combined proposed budget for personnel services and overhead expenses is too small that it will look like the DA has fired a lot of its employees.
“Tapos ngayon sasabihin (niyo) ang overhead is 20 percent, kasama na ang regulatory at research? That’s impossible. There’s something wrong (Are you telling us that the overhead, regulatory, and research allocations are just at 20 percent? That’s impossible.
There’s something wrong),” Villar stressed.
Last year, the DA had a P117.28 billion budget, of which 9.81 percent or P11.5 billion went to personnel services, 9.97 percent or P11.69 billion for overhead expenses, 1.7 percent or P1.98 billion for research, and 77.01 percent or P90.3 billion for program and projects.
The DA’s P163.8 billion proposed budget includes P30 billion for the National Irrigation Administration.
DA SECRETARY
Sen. Imee Marcos said it is time for his brother, President Marcos, to appoint a full-time DA secretary who will focus on the job.
Marcos said she had initially thought that her brother heading the DA was “a very good idea” but there are pressing matters under the department that needs to be urgently addressed, including the problems on agricultural smuggling.
She said her brother picked the DA portfolio because he wanted to solve the food problem, which remains the country’s biggest problem. She said her brother can solve this by running after agricultural smugglers.
“(He should) not to hang on to the Department of Agriculture for a long, long time. As a matter of fact, naka pwesto na dyan ang mga dating undersecretaries and the rest. Dapat ‘yung mga malalakas na (undersecretaries) sila na ang magpatakbo (He should not hang on to the Department of Agriculture post for a long, long time. The former undersecretaries and the rest are already there, let them run the department,” she added.
