While Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan expressed his support for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s plan to strengthen the country’s agricultural sector in the last half of his term, he also warned against last-minute budget insertions that threaten the agri budget and “corrupt spending” practices.
In an interview on ANC’s Headstart on Tuesday, July 29, the senator promised to use his congressional Senate oversight powers to “follow through” with the President’s promise to earmark P113 billion in support of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) programs.
“Yan ang uunahin natin—itong problema ng mataas na presyo ng bigas at iba pang bilihin at ang suporta sa agrikultura. So, that’s one. I’ve been in the bureaucracy. Alam ko kung paano patakbuhin ang burukrasya at alam ko ang dapat tutukan. So, maganda ang bitiw na salita pero hangga’t maaari, ito ay tutukan ng Office of the President at ng Department of Agriculture,” he said.
“Madaling magsalita pero pag di mo pinondohan ano lang yun, bukambibig lang yun. Hindi lamang additional budget, pero dapat correct spending, hindi corrupt spending,” Pangilinan added.
The senator stressed that he will remain vigilant against budget insertions and attempts to decrease the agricultural sector’s budget, similar to what happened in the 2025 budget wherein funding was slashed from education programs to pad public works projects.
“So, hindi dapat mangyari ulit yan at babantayan natin yan at yung sinabi ni Presidente in this regard, we welcome that. But we, in the Senate, we have to remain vigilant para mabantayan talaga,” he said.
The senator added that he wants “more details” about the planned P113-billion budget for DA as he had made the same proposal to increase the DA’s budget to P100 billion every year—bringing it to P800 to P900 billion eventually—in the next six years to fully support the country’s agricultural sector.
As an example, he cited Taiwan’s agricultural spending of $6 billion each year for a population of 23 million, while the Philippines languished at spending only $4 billion a year for almost 120 million Filipinos.
“Kaya pababain pero kailangan mo pondohan at tiyakin na ang pondo hindi ninanakaw,” Pangilinan said, referring to the President’s promise to bring down rice prices to P20.
Where is Sagip Saka?
The senator, however, lamented that President Marcos did not direct the national government and local government units to maximize the provisions of his Sagip Saka Act, which allows for the direct procurement of produce from farmers and fisherfolk without public bidding.
With about P200 billion allocated for food purchases, he highlighted how access to the government can increase the revenues of agricultural workers.
“You know, the weakest link sa agriculture is the farmers and the fishers. So, nasaan ang ating farmers at fisherfolk? Mahirap pa sa daga. Hirap, baon sa utang, hindi sapat ang suporta. So, that’s actually the main issue,” he said.
“You want to secure our food and our agri output, you secure your farmers and your fisherfolk,” Pangilinan added. “Unless we secure our farmers and a significant amount of the budgetary support is to do that—access to credit, infrastructure, climate change resilience, disaster relief—lahat yan dapat at mabilis dapat ang intervention.”