Gov't eyes more funds for agriculture, education

The Estrada administration has been breaking new ground in the generation of funds and investments for its major projects especially in the agriculture and education sectors, government data have revealed.

At the Department of Agriculture, a landmark tripartite agreement to share in the funding of irrigation projects has been signed by the DA, local government units in Western Visayas and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) based in the region, according to Agriculture Secretary Edgardo J. Angara.

The cost-sharing agreement provides that the national government funds from the DA shall be complemented by equities from the LGUs in Western Visayas and irrigators associations, which actually run and oversee small irrigation systems in the country.

"This novel financing scheme will hopefully serve as the role model for other infra-oriented concerns in the agriculture sector," said Angara.

Angara said the agriculture sector has to work out novel financing schemes for irrigation projects since foreign loans and official development assistance are inadequate to meet the huge need for irrigation investments.

In fact, the efforts of the Estrada administration to improve the investment-generation rules for irrigation was recently discussed by Angara during the Second Water Forum in The Hague, Netherlands two weeks ago.

Angara cited the need to overhaul the rules to attract more foreign investments for irrigation.

At the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), agency officials said the Third Elementary Education Project (TEEP), the flagship project for elementary education is being funded by three sources: national government equity, loans from the World Bank and the Japan-based Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) and contributions from congressional leaders or LGUs.

Education Secretary Andrew Gonzalez said that the LGU/congressional equity helps bankroll the school building program of the TEEP, actually the biggest component of the flagship project.

Gonzalez said that the TEEP also covers the supply of textbooks and instructional materials and the training and retraining of teachers. It hopes to uplift the quality of education in the 22 poorest provinces of the country, he said.

Education Undersecretary Victor Andres Manhit said that a massive information and advocacy campaign has been launched by the TEEP to encourage representatives and LGU leaders to share in the novel funding scheme.