Legarda lists priorities in utilization of ACEF

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Loren Legarda, chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture, wants to prioritize the disposition and utilization of the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) in livelihood generating activities, “green agriculture,” and in addressing the problems of the agriculture sector brought about by climate change.

ACEF is a special purpose fund created by virtue of Republic Act 8178 enacted in 1996 out of the proceeds of the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) in-quota importations. It is intended to support projects that will make the agriculture and fishery sectors globally competitive, viable, efficient and sustainable.

RA 8178 expired in December 2007. However, RA 9496 was enacted on Feb. 28, 2008 which extended the utilization period of the ACEF until 2015.

Citing records from the Department of Agriculture (DA), Legarda reported that as of December 200, total actual collection in special account of ACEF called Fund 183 amounted to P10.589 billion.

Since year 2000, when the ACEF was fully made available, 194 ACEF-Execom approved projects on livestock, poultry, fruits and vegetable sectors have availed of loan assistance amounting to P6.128 billion. Some P4.446 billion is available to the agriculture and fishery sectors under the credit facility of ACEf.

In the recently held en banc meeting of the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM), which she also chairs, Legarda suggested to the committee that the utilization of the ACEF should focus on livelihood generating activities in the wake of the global financial crisis and in green agriculture such as organic fertilizer production, coal briquette making and agro-forestry.

She also wants to use the ACEF funds in addressing the impact of climate change which is directly affecting the agriculture sector.

“I believe the strongest weapon we have is the ACEF fund. We should not use this as a pork barrel. We should have a better strategic reason to address the needs of the time, and the needs of the time is food and jobs, and of course to minimize the impact of climate change. And all of this, I think, are the major priorities where the ACEF fund should be utilized,” she said.