Villar pushes bill mandating local govts to allot budget for agriculture
Sen. Cynthia Villar pushed for a bill that will mandate local government units (LGUs) to set aside funding for the development of agriculture. Villar, chair of the Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, authored Senate Bill 1138 or the “Local Government Agriculture Development Act.” The bill seeks to institutionalize a 10 percent budgetary allocation from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of LGUs for the implementation of programs, activities, and services for agriculture and fisheries. “We need to strengthen local government participation in agriculture development by making sure programs for agriculture will be funded and consistently implemented whoever gets elected-- advocate man ng agriculture ang mayor o hindi,” Villar said. “Just like how LGUs were required to allot budget for Gender and Development Program, we want local agriculture development programs to be funded also,” she added. The bill seeks to mandate cities, municipalities and barangays to ...