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Congressional body pushes for higher Agriculture budget


The Congressional oversight committee on agriculture and fisheries modernization (COCAFM) is pushing for an increase of the Agriculture Department's annual budget to P60 billion to fund the 15-year agriculture and fisheries roadmap. "We will provide the legislative support to increase the Agriculture Department's budget starting 2012," COCAFM chairman Sen. Francis Pangilinan told reporters Friday. The implementation of the agro-fisheries roadmap necessitates that "we increase the budget to finance food sufficiency programs," he added. This year's budget for the Agriculture Department amounted to P39 billion. Pangilinan — who also heads the Senate committee on agriculture and food — said the budget proposal will be "function-based," not "commodity-based." "Commodity is variable as it is seasonal. Annual volume and price var[y]. But if we focus on the different functions, we may exert greater flexibility on the budget," he explained. — JE, GMA News

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