Sagada: Why only 250 folks given cash?

By Gina Dizon

SAGADA, Mountain Province -- Despite having a number of corn farmers here, Sagada netizens asked how and why only 250 corn tillers from this town benefitted from the cash and food subsidy for marginal farmers and fishers program (CFSMFFP) of the Dept. of Agriculture.
    In distribution activity two weeks ago by the office of the municipal agriculturist (OMAG), 250 corn farmers were each given P2,000 worth of a half cavan of rice, two frozen dressed chicken and two trays of eggs and P3,000 cash for a total of P5,000 CFSMFFP aid.
    The P3,000 cash is received by the beneficiary through a voucher that he signs.
    Netizens urged the DA to provide the same assistance to all corn farmers asking why some beneficiaries were given food and cash subsidy despite having availed of other social amelioration programs.
    Netizen Mylene Simeon Demot-Galgala said, “all should be given so no one complains.”
    An eligibility criterion of the CFSMFFP requires a farmer is not a beneficiary of any other amelioration program from any government agency aside from being a registered farmer with the DA in a fourth to sixth class municipality or 5th to 6th class city.
    Netizens also asked why only 250 farmers were given assistance when most in town plant corn.
    A list of 2,075 corn farmers was forwarded by the office of the municipal agriculturist to the regional DA office.
    Some 4,000 farmers here registered under the RSBSA (registry system for basic sectors in agriculture) of the DA.
 Corn is a traditional crop planted by most farmers here in this town during the rainy season.

Asked how the 250 corn farmers were selected, Carmen Pomeg-as, municipal agriculturist said the DA central office identified the beneficiaries from the RSBSA forms the farmer submitted.

 The 250 corn farmer beneficiaries were from six out of 19 barangays of this town -- southern barangays of Balugan, Ankileng, Ambasing; northern barangays of Bangaan Aguid and eastern Antadao.

Balugan got the highest of 100 farmer-beneficiaries followed by nearby Ankileng of 77 claimants.

DA chief of Regional Agriculture and Fisheries information section Aida Pagtan said beneficiaries were verified by the OMAG from the RSBSA list the regional office forwarded and OMAG having submitted back the verified list of corn farmer beneficiaries to the DA regional office.

 The verified list delisted 71 corn farmer beneficiaries who availed of the same cash and food assistance given early this year, municipal agricultural staff Scarlett Buteng said.

Earlier, 100 farmers among them 71 corn farmers and fisher folks and indigenous peoples (IP) beneficiaries received the same P3,000 cash and food subsidy worth P2,000 March this year.

The OMAG is not familiar with the criteria of the CFFMFFP that to qualify as a beneficiary should not have availed of other amelioration subsidy, Buteng added.

As a criterion, the CFSMFFP beneficiary shouldn’t have availed of any social amelioration aid from any government office including the Covid-19 adjustment measures program (CAMP) or the tulong panghanapbuhay sa ating disadvantaged/displaced workers (TUPAD) from the Dept. of labor and employment (DOLE) or social amelioration program (SAP) from the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development. 

Thus the doubling of CFSMFFP assistance to a beneficiary even if he/she received SAP, CAMP or TUPAD aid earlier.

Sagada netizens also asked what ‘marginal’ farmer means, saying one beneficiary was a full time vendor and another is a senior citizen on pension.

The CFSFFP defines a marginal corn farmer as one who tills landholding one hectare and below.

Eva Acosta, officer in charge of the corn program of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG) said 1,373 corn farmers of the province availed of the CFSMFFP subsidy with the corn producing town of Paracelis having received the highest with 564 beneficiaries followed by 328 corn farmers from Sagada.

 Submitted number of corn farmers from municipalities and the low number of beneficiaries indicate the limited number of beneficiaries per municipality.   

There are 28,515 corn farmers of the province in a list submitted by municipal agricultural offices to the DA region with the highest from the corn producing town of Paracelis with 11,374 corn farmers followed by Bauko with 2,376 and Sabangan with 2,250 corn farmers, OPAG records reveal.

The DA received P24 billion funding under the Bayanihan to Recover as One 2 to provide direct cash assistance or low-interest rate subsidies to qualified agri-fishery enterprises, farmers and fisher folks registered under the RSBSA.

Of the P24 billion fund, a 6.5 billion stimulus package was allotted for agriculture poured into the agency’s social amelioration projects for marginal farmers where P4.5 billion was allocated for CFSMFFP.