Senator Win Gatchalian issued a stern warning on Wednesday, October 8, after discovering that the Department of Agriculture (DA) allegedly released ₱293 million in aid to thousands of “fake” and even deceased farmers under the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) program.
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, said the incident reflects the government’s long-standing failure to clean up its registry of legitimate farmers and fisherfolk.
“Importante kasi ang registry. We’re giving subsidies for fuel, fertilizer, seedlings, conditional cash transfers, crop insurance. Marami tayong binibigay. Pero kung nagbibigay tayo sa patay, it’s a waste of money,” he said.
Citing a report from the Commission on Audit (COA), the senator highlighted a major discrepancy between the figures of the Registry System for the Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) and those of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
According to Gatchalian, the RSBSA listed around 13.5 million farmers and fisherfolk in 2022, while PSA records showed only 7.4 million — a gap of roughly six million questionable entries.
“So mayroong about 6 million na mga registered, supposedly farmers and fisher folks sa registry ninyo na hindi tunay,” Gatchalian pointed out.
He also rejected the notion that the government could recover the misallocated funds, calling it unrealistic.
“I don’t buy that idea na kokolektahin natin. Imposible na ’yan dito sa bansa natin. Kung anong binigay ninyo, hindi niyo na mababawi. Imposible na ’yan,” he said.
Gatchalian stressed that the RSBSA must immediately update and verify its records or risk losing the authority to manage agricultural subsidies.
“Ang suggestion ko, mag-coordinate kayo with PSA kasi mayroon ng 93 million registered sa national ID. Itong national ID natin may birthday, mayroon biometrics, may address. So, in other words, malalaman mo kung patay pa siya o buhay siya,” he advised.