Why cut fuel subsidy for fishers, farmers? DA asked

FILE PHOTO: Fishermen in Subic town, Zambales province receive their fuel subsidy cash cards during the launch on March 21 of the program at Bulungan fish port. | PHOTO: of BFAR Region 3

Farmers and fishers’ groups have lambasted the lower funding in 2025 for the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) fuel subsidy program, which provides a P3,000 one-time allowance to some 5 million eligible beneficiaries.

In a joint statement, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) questioned why only P50 million would be allocated for fuel assistance under the proposed DA budget for 2025.

READ: DA readies P510.4M subsidies to farmers

This, they stressed, would be a 90-percent reduction from the P510 million set aside this year.

‘Lack of sincerity’

“It really angers us why such a huge funding for social assistance was slashed when the agriculture sector deeply needs help because of calamities and worsening crisis in production,” said KMP national chair Danilo Ramos.

The industry, he added, was still reeling from the effects of Supertyphoon “Carina” (international name: Gaemi) and the enhanced southwest monsoon that battered Luzon last month and caused agricultural damage worth P600 million.

“The meager budget of DA reflects the lack of sincerity in responding to the needs of farmers and fisherfolk,” Ramos noted.

With an “extremely small” funding, they said only around 33,000 farmers and fisherfolk out of a total 5.46 million eligible beneficiaries would be covered by the program next year.

Eligibility for subsidy

Agriculture officials started to defend their proposed budget this week, with Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. pushing to at least get a total of P250 billion for 2025.

The fuel subsidy began in March 2022 to cushion the impact on farmers and fisherfolk of rising oil prices amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Beneficiaries should be owners or renters of farm machinery and should be in the Registry System for Basic Sectors of Agriculture.

These conditions make them eligible for a 30-percent fuel discount, or a maximum of P3,000 per farmer or fisher when buying gasoline or diesel from an accredited gas station.

The aid came in the form of fuel discount cards that are issued by the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines and its financial technology partners.

Earlier releases

Meanwhile, Pamalakaya has also been pressing the government for a monthly P15,000 calamity aid, based on the average income per month of small-time fisherfolk.

Early last month, the DA approved the release of some P510 million in fuel subsidy to about 160,000 farmers owning or renting machinery used in crop, livestock and poultry production to help them cope with high fuel costs.

The project is being implemented by the DA through its Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering and regional field offices.

However, the release of the fuel subsidy is contingent upon the Department of Energy’s certification that the average monthly price of Dubai crude oil has reached $80 a barrel.

From June 3 to July 1, Dubai crude prices ranged from $79 to $86.50 a barrel, exceeding the $80 trigger price for the fuel subsidy.