House Deputy Speaker and Cagayan De Oro 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has underscored the call to exempt the Department of Agriculture's (DA) distribution of fuel subsidy from the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) spending ban.
The national government, last March, approved a P500 million fuel subsidy to be distributed by the DA to support farmers amid rapidly increasing oil prices.
However, the Comelec’s spending ban during the election season has halted the DA’s subsidy distribution.
“I believe that the fertilizer and fuel ayuda for the agriculture sector be exempted as well. Farmers are in the same situation as PUV (public utility vehicle) drivers. Both sectors need the allocated funding support now,” Rodriguez said in a statement on Friday, April 8.
The DA’s P500 million subsidy covers fuel as well as procurement of farm implements and machinery.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary William Dar has said that he made an appeal to the poll body to exempt the DA from the Comelec’s spending ban.