A MEASURE has been filed in the Senate which will require local governments to set aside 10% of their internal revenue allotment (IRA) from the national government on agriculture and fisheries programs.
Senate Bill No. 1138, which if passed will become the Local Government Agriculture Development Act, seeks to improve coordination between the Department of Agriculture (DA) and local government units (LGUs) in implementing agriculture development plans, its author Senator Cynthia A. Villar said.
“Currently, the local agricultural officers have become ‘political appointees’ or else are being assigned to unrelated tasks. The DA now operates only at the level of Regional Offices, not working directly through each LGU at provincial and municipal levels,” Ms. Villar said in the bill’s explanatory note.
“This resulted in ineffective coordination between agricultural development plans at national to the local levels.”
The bill will amend Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991, by allocating at least 10% of each LGU’s IRA to projects and programs related to the development of the agricultural sector.
IRAs are the share set aside for local governments from revenue generated by the national government.
At present, the LGC requires an allocation of at least 20% of IRA for local development plans.
The measure also requires the appointment of an agriculturist at the city and municipal level, provided that agriculture and/or fisheries is a significant industry in such jurisdictions. Currently, the position of agriculturist is only mandatory for provincial governments.
The LGU will also be required to ensure that its constituents receive training in improving production, minimizing risk and losses, and pest management among others.
The bill also proposed to create the Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries Development under the Local Government Legislative Council.
The Local Development Council will be required to meet at least once per quarter, against the current requirement of at least once every six months. — Charmaine A. Tadalan
