Distribution starts for P10 billion in cash aid for farmers, fisherfolk
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it will start distributing this week a P10-billion cash assistance package for farmers and fisherfolk, citing the need to provide relief as fuel costs rise.
In a statement on Wednesday, the DA said the Presidential Assistance for Farmers and Fisherfolk Program (PAFFP) will provide P2,325 each to more than 4.17 million beneficiaries.
The target beneficiaries are rice farmers cultivating up to two hectares of farmland, as well as corn and sugarcane farmers enrolled in the DA’s Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture.
The DA said municipal fisherfolk enrolled in the National Program for Municipal Fishing Vessels and Gear Registration are also eligible.
The DA said initial disbursements will begin in the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Western Visayas, and Zamboanga Peninsula regions.
It added that efforts are ongoing to finalize master lists and distribution systems, which have posed challenges in previous large-scale government cash aid programs.
The DA said the fuel crisis affects operators of farm machinery, irrigation systems, and fishing boats.
“This financial assistance, while admittedly small, provides a lifeline for over 4.1 million Filipino farmers and fisherfolk hit hard by soaring petroleum product prices,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said in the statement.
Funded by the 2026 General Appropriations Act, the PAFFP is typically used to aid agriculture after calamities.
However, the DA has said that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East can also be considered a trigger event to unlock the assistance. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel
