Sunday, March 02, 2008 DA denies favoritism in fund allocation By Jane Cadalig
AGRICULTURE Regional Director Cesar Rodriguez clarified there is no inequitable allocation of farm-to-market road (FMR) funds for provinces in the region, as earlier claimed by some governors.
"There is no such thing as inequitable fund distribution for FMRs because we base the allocation on the areas of production in each province," Rodriguez said.
He is airing the Department of Agriculture (DA) side on the controversy raised by Mountain Province Governor Maximo Dalog, Kalinga Governor Floydelia Diasen and Ifugao Governor Teodoro Baguilat who complained that the agency favors one province by allotting more FMR funds.
Based on the DA's FMR fund allocation in 2007, Benguet was given P15 million; Ifugao got P10 million Apayao got P7 million; and Mountain Province and Kalinga were allotted P5 million each.
Abra has no allocation for FMR as the province got the bulk of allocation for the hunger mitigation program.
Rodriguez said Benguet got the highest allocation because it is the major producer of vegetables supplying Metro Manila and other lowland provinces, which supports government's food security program.
He further explained that FMRs are only among the components of DA development programs for the farmers. "There are other programs where each province is allotted more funding," he said.
Among the DA banner programs include rice, corn, high value commercial crops (HVCC), livestock and fisheries.
For the HVCC and corn program, Kalinga got the highest allocation, which amounted to P29 million as it is the major producer of rice and corn. Apayao was allotted P21.5 million; Benguet got P19 million; Ifugao got P17 million; Mountain Province has P11 million; and Abra is P9.7 million.
"So there's really no inequitable distribution of funds. The allocation depends on the program. Each province gets more allocation for the commodity it produces," Rodriguez said.
While it was apparent that Benguet was the area being referred to as DA's favorite in FMR allocation, Governor Nestor Fongwan said other Cordillera governors should not get jealous because the province also needs more development projects.
