MANILA — Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan urged the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to allocate part of its proposed 2026 budget for food programs to buying directly from farmers and fisherfolk, in line with the 2019 Sagip Saka Act.

Authored by Pangilinan, the Sagip Saka Act allows national government agencies and local government units to purchase food directly from farmers and fisherfolk without public bidding. The law, however, has not been fully implemented due to the absence of implementing rules, regulations, and necessary resolutions.

“With the EOs (Executive Order Nos. 101 and 101), with the GPPB (Government Procurement Policy Board) resolution, I am assuming that the bulk of these purchases—not necessarily 100% but I think significant amount of your budget for pork, fish, chicken, rice—could be purchased directly from farmers and fisherfolk organizations,” Pangilinan said during the 2026 budget deliberations for the DSWD.

The senator also stressed the need for better information dissemination, noting that many local government units remain unaware of the Sagip Saka provisions. He requested a detailed breakdown of the commodities the DSWD purchases for its food programs, including rice, pork, chicken, vegetables, and eggs.

Some of the DSWD’s food programs under discussion include a P9.41-billion allocation for supplemental feeding, P3 billion for quick response funds for disasters, around P160 million for the Bangsamoro Umpungan sa Nutrisyon (BangUN), and P1.89 billion for the Walang Gutom Program. About P641 million is also earmarked for the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP), a convergence program partnering government agencies, LGUs, and community organizations to address hunger, alleviate poverty, and improve food security, according to Senator Pia Cayetano, sponsor of the proposed budget.

Pangilinan said scaling up such programs to benefit farmers and fisherfolk directly would support rural livelihoods, prevent migration to urban centers or abroad, and improve local food production, helping secure the country’s food needs.