PILI, CAMARINES SUR — Administration candidates belonging to Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas would back the allocation of adequate budgets to support the agricultural sector in the face of climate change.

ACT-CIS Representative and former Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo said on Friday the government must appropriate “the correct and right amount of funds” to help farmers and protect their produce.

Tulfo stressed that funds must be provided to establish post-harvest facilities where farmers can store their crops, ensuring that food won’t go to waste amid the adverse impacts of climate change.

He also pointed out that climate change causes extreme weather events such as prolonged drought. He then said the attention of the National Irrigation Administration must be called to account for their unused fund in 2024 which should have been tapped to address the problem.

“Support, support, support the farmers,” Tulfo said. “Support from the government, financial support is the bottom line.”

Deputy Speaker Camille Villar noted that the Philippines was among the pioneers in integrating climate change in national laws. According to her, there were laws that already mandated the Department of Agriculture, for instance, to consider the effects of climate change and weather disturbances to agriculture in government programs as early as the 1990s.

However, she lamented the lack of proper implementation of the laws, as she called for a review of some laws “to make sure they are relevant to the times.”

“For example, in 2009, there was the agri-agrarian reform credit law, which mandated banks to give 25 percent of their capital or lend to agri-business or agri-beneficiaries. But, hindi ito nasusunod hanggang ngayon. So, they don’t have access to the fundings,” she said.

“So, there is a lot of legislation on this that we need to make sure is properly implemented,” she said.

Villar likewise noted trends in innovations worldwide that the Philippine agricultural industry can adopt, such as inter-cropping and the technology that allows the determination of appropriate crops to plant depending on the predicted amount of rainfall or predicted temperature.

“So, maraming bagong technology and innovations in agriculture that we can apply to make us more ready or resilient to climate change and natural disasters brought upon by climate change,” she said.

For Makati City Mayor Abby Binay, weather forecasting must be strengthened. She lamented the reduction of the fund for Project Noah (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards), which helps the country in disaster risk reduction and management, climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Binay vowed to push for more funding to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

“Kaya ang nangyayari, we come unprepared pagdating ng bagyo, too late na, pagdating ng tag-init, too late na, na kung tutuusin, kung mayroon pong pondo and we have more funding for forecasting, we can tell our farmers, ‘O, mainit’, ‘Ang expectation sa taon na ito mas mainit kumpara sa previous years, let’s prepare’,” she noted.

“I think the bottom line really is resiliency. Climate change is not going to revert itself anytime soon, nandito na siya and the only way we can combat climate change is to be resilient.”

“So, the only way you can be resilient is to have the proper data through forecasting,” she added, “So, ako po, dagdagan ang pondo ng PAGASA.”

Senator Francis “Tol” Tolentino likewise agreed that “bigger budgetary outlay” is needed to address climate change issues, especially is areas as big as Camarines Sur.

He also said that he supports President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s call to revisit the Bicol region flood control programs, as well as look into the deforestation of Mount Isarog, following the onslaught of strong tropical cyclones.

Aside from Tulfo, Villar, Binay, and Tolentino, other senatorial candidates from the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas are former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, Senator Ramon Bong Revilla, Senator Pia Cayetano, Senator Lito Lapid, Senator Imee Marcos, former Senator Manny Pacquiao, former Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, and former Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Ryan Ponce Pacpaco