DA to roll out fuel subsidies for 45K farmers, fisherfolk

The Department of Agriculture said that various subsidies are set to be rolled out to members of the agricultural sector in the coming weeks as part of efforts to curb the effects of the oil price increase.

Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa revealed that the DA’s fuel subsidy will benefit 45,000 farmers and fisherfolk registered under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) who utilize fuel for the machinery they use for their livelihood.

De Mesa explained that the cash assistance will come in the form of the department’s Interventions Monitoring Card, serving as a type of debit card that beneficiaries can only use for fuel.

He said that farmers will receive P5,000, while fisherfolk are going to receive P3,000.

Asked about the discrepancy in the amounts that it will distribute, De Mesa said that the DA was limited in terms of the availability of its funds.

“The funds available for the DA are limited, particularly when it comes to the fuel subsidy within BFAR [Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources]. In fact, we don’t have funding for the fuel subsidy in 2026 under the General Appropriations Act of 2026, this is a continuing fund,” he said in Filipino during an interview with a radio program this Monday.

“That means that this was a continuing fund from 2025 that had a line item for fuel subsidy and was not used,” he added.

Under the General Appropriations Act of 2025, the agricultural agency had P75 million for each sector that remained unused.

Distribution of the IMCs for fisherfolk in Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, and Pampanga had already begun last March 16. Farmers, on the other hand, are slated to acquire their cards by the first week of April.

Aside from the DA, De Mesa said that the Presidential Assistance for Farmers and Fisherfolk will give out around P2,350 to over 4.1 million beneficiaries after the holy week break.

The assistant secretary also said that the department was going to explore legislative measures such as placing price caps on rice imports and probing profiteering from rice traders as a means to support the sector.