Secretary Ramon Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) said the economic team is still reviewing the proposed fuel discount for the agricultural sector due to limited government resources.

Carandang said the government would have to find additional funds if the fuel discounts, originally given to public utility jeeps and tricycles, are extended to farmers and fishermen as proposed by the Department of Agriculture.

“We are still studying the proposal because we have limited funds. If we spend it all, other sectors will not benefit,” he told reporters during President Aquino’s visit in Nueva Ecija.

“We will check if we still have funds and if we can accommodate them. This is not yet final,” he added.

Carandang made the clarification a day after Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala claimed the government is finalizing the expansion of the fuel aid program to cover farmers and fishermen across the country. The fuel discount for the agriculture sector, Alcala claimed, may start within two weeks.

But Carandang made clear that Energy Secretary Rene Almendras is still reviewing the list of possible beneficiaries from the agriculture sector submitted by Alcala. The list included people using registered fishing vessels, farm tractors, irrigation pumps, and those traveling on food lane passes in national roads.

The possible inclusion of farmers and fishermen in the fuel aid program will depend “on how much fuel they might need, how much help they might need, how many are they, how much funds can be spared for this for the time being,” according to Carandang.

“There are many factors that we will look into before we can really say they are included,” he said.

Genalyn Kabiling, Manila Bulletin