Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. was candid about the numbers. When fuel prices started climbing, the Department of Agriculture had only P150 million in fuel subsidy funds and another P10 billion from presidential assistance for farmers and fisherfolk. “That’s all our money…. But we can provide the additional funds we’re asking for if we have it,” he said Monday.
That admission came as government agencies laid out the full financial picture of the ongoing Middle East crisis response before the Senate Protect committee — and the figures were stark.
The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development told senators the government could require as much as P429 billion to sustain its crisis measures through December if the conflict drags on. That projection, sourced from the Uplift committee, covers four sectors: agriculture, transport, energy, and overseas Filipino workers.
The figure is nearly twice the P238 billion the Department of Budget and Management had previously identified as the funding requirement to absorb the economic shock of the Iran war.
DepDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said roughly half of the P238 billion has already moved. “From the continuing 2025 appropriations and the 2026 appropriations we could identify a P238 billion amount of resources for the intervention. Half of that has actually been released to the agencies as of April 1, that’s P125.2 billion,” he said.
With P113.4 billion still undeployed, Balisacan expressed measured confidence that near-term needs can be managed — but only under a specific condition. “If we look at these numbers, versus the first three months, April to June, I think we can safely cover the short-term measures as long as our approach is targeted,” he said.
A shorter crisis scenario — one contained within the second quarter — would require P205.2 billion in total spending, per the Uplift projections. But a six-month extension into July through December would push demand well past what current allocations can cover.
“If the tension in the Middle East will extend to the next six months, that is July to December, the demand for resources will be much greater and we’ll have to figure out how to source that out,” Balisacan said.
The agriculture sector faces particular strain. Tiu Laurel said his department would need an additional P40 billion if the oil crisis persists — P30 billion for fertilizers and seeds and P10 billion to support fisherfolk. “Our fertilizer fund now is only half, so we need to make that P20 billion, plus the seeds, plus the others. So we need an additional P20 billion maybe just for rice farmers, plus the others—so in total P30 billion plus P10 billion for fisherfolk,” he said.
The DA earlier projected agricultural losses of at least 20 percent, or roughly two million metric tons, warning that government intervention remained insufficient. Since the fuel price increases began, the agency has started releasing subsidies to 14,400 farmers and 15,669 fisherfolk — P5,000 per farmer and P3,000 per fisherfolk. The P10 billion in presidential funds now being distributed is expected to reach over four million farmers and fisherfolk, at P2,325 each.
Across sectors, the Uplift package channels emergency resources toward fuel subsidies, cash assistance, fee reductions, oil and electricity supply security, and repatriation and reintegration support for overseas Filipino workers.
