By Vanne Terrazola and Mario Casayuran Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said the government should include agriculture in its infrastructure drive instead of penalizing farmers for using highways to dry palay. Senator Ralph Recto (JOHN JEROME GANZON / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Recto was reacting to the warning issued by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) against farmers who dry palay and other farm produce along national roads, saying such act is considered obstruction and is punishable by fine of not more than P1,000 or imprisonment of six months at most. Opposition Senator Francis N. Pangilinan, who once headed the Senate agriculture and food committee and served as Presidential Assistant on Food Security and Agricultural Modernization during the administration of Pres, Benigno C. Aquino III, said the DPWH warning is insulting. ‘’If there were public mechanical drying systems, especially those that harness solar energy, our farmers would not dry their palay on cemented roads. Because they know, this is not efficient, that many of their palay get wasted,’’ he said. Recto said farmers are using national roads to dry their palay due to lack of drying equipment and infrastructure. "'Yong sa (About the) drying, the solutions range from building more drying pavements, to concreting of farm roads, to more mechanical dryers, to the simple distribution of drying mats to farmers," Recto said in a statement. "Kung wala ‘yan, doon sa national highway sila mapipilitang magbilad. Ang solusyon ay hindi ikulong at pagmultahin ang mga magsasaka, kundi bigyan sila ng mga alternatibong bilaran (Without these, then farmers will really be forced to dry along national highways. The solution is not to jail or fine them, but give them alternatives where they can dry their harvest)," he added. The DPWH issued the warning as harvesting season is at its peak. "Agriculture, which is where millions of poor are, should be included in the government's infrastructure drive." He cited the 12,000 to 23,000-kilometer farm-to-market roads that have yet to be completed due to lack in funding. "Our farmers can only plant, plant, plant if we build, build, build more farm facilities like irrigation,” he added, referring to the Duterte administration's ambitious "Build, Build, Build" infrastructure program. Recto also pointed out that need for more drying equipment, so that farmers would not use the roads. But he noted that the allocation of Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), under the 2019 National Expenditure Program was a "mere" P310 million, of which only P62 million would be allocated for capital outlays. "(It) is like one grain of palay in a whole sack of government spending," Recto rued.