PH needs P429-B crisis fund if Iran war lasts all year
The government may need a total of P429 billion to fund its ongoing response measures should the Middle East conflict prevail by year-end, the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev) told senators on Monday.
That figure is nearly double the P238 billion which the Department of Budget and Management said earlier was the funding needed to cope with the economic impact of the Iran war.
“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,” DepDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said during a hearing by the Senate Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy (Protect) committee—the ad hoc panel formed by the chamber to look into the fuel crisis and other conditions triggered by the conflict.
Balisacan cited the government’s Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food and Transport (Uplift) committee’s projections, which showed a total of P429 billion would be needed to fund the ongoing measures for four critical sectors until the end of the year.
For the agriculture sector this includes fuel subsidy, financial assistance and logistics support.
Similarly, fuel subsidies, cash aid and reduction of fees will be provided to the transport sector.
These emergency funds will also be used in securing oil and electricity supply for the energy sector, and repatriation and reintegration efforts for overseas Filipino workers.
Intervention allotments
Of the identified P238 billion, the national government has already released P125.2 billion to the appropriate agencies, Balisacan reported.
“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.
“The remaining part of that is P113.4 billion, 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,” Balisacan said.
Should the crisis only reach up to June, Balisacan said the aforementioned measures will use up a total of P205.2 billion of the emergency funds, he said, citing the Uplift report.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said on Monday the Department of Agriculture (DA) may need an additional P40 billion in funding if the oil crisis continues.
Tiu Laurel told reporters that when fuel prices began increasing, his agency only had a fuel subsidy of P150 million plus P10 billion from the Presidential Assistance to Farmers and Fishermen.
“That’s all our money…. But we can provide the additional funds we’re asking for if we have it,” he said.
He said P30 billion would be needed for fertilizers and seeds and another 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,” Tiu Laurel said.
Earlier the DA projected a minimum loss in agricultural products of at least 20 percent or two million metric tons, with government intervention in the impact of the oil crisis still lacking.
Since fuel prices have increased, the agency has begun releasing its fuel subsidy to 14,400 farmers and 15,669 fisherfolk.
The farmers received P5,000 and fisherfolk P3,000 each, the DA said.
The P10 billion it now has from the presidential funds is already being distributed and is projected to provide P2,325 each to over four million farmers and fisherfolk, the agency said.
