| Over
20 govs commit part of monetized IRA for fertilizers, other
agri inputs
Over
20 of the country’s governors have committed to allocate
a substantial share of their monetized Internal Revenue Allotment
(IRA) differentials for the procurement of fertilizers and
other farm inputs in their respective localities as part of
their efforts to help guarantee the effective implementation
of the Department of Agriculture’s Rice Self-Sufficiency
Program beginning this wet cropping season.
During the 4th General Assembly of the League of Provinces
of the Philippines national president Misamis Occidental Gov.
Loreto Leo Ocampos, and national chairman Camarines Sur Gov.
Luis Raymund Villafuerte led the governors present in committing
portion of their monetized IRA differentials for the Rice
Self-Sufficiency Program.
In his report to DA Secretary Arthur Yap, Undersecretary
Jesus Emmanuel Paras said some of these governors have
committed to allocate as high as 50% of their IRA differentials,
which total P12.57 billion for all local government units
(LGUs) , to provide fertilizer assistance and other forms
of production support for the country’s rice farmers.
President
Arroyo issued EO 723 last month monetizing this P12.57 billion
IRA differential—the difference between what LGUs were
supposed to receive in IRA allocations and what they actually
received when the national budgets were only re-enacted in
2001 and 2004—on condition that local executives use
part of their extra cash to bankroll food productivity or
security programs in their respective localities.
Under the DA’s rice self-sufficiency plan, which aims
to make the Philippines 98% self-sufficient in the staple
by 2010, the governors are the country’s new “rice
champions” who will head in their respective provinces
the action teams that will focus on increasing provincial
palay productivity.
Paras
said the governors unveiled their plan to become active partners
of the DA in carrying out its Rice Self-Sufficiency Plan during
the 4th General Assembly of the League of Provinces of the
Philippines (LPP) at the Century Park Hotel earlier this week.
Attending the
event besides Paras were Directors Norlito Gicana of the Fertilizer
and Pesticide Authority, national coordinator Frisco Malabanan
of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani-Rice Program, Joel Rudinas
of the Bureau of Plant Industry and regional executive directors
of the Department.
The
governors first committed to set aside a part of their would-be
monetized IRA differentials during a previous meeting with
Yap at the same hotel. (DA PR)
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