Around 1,000 beneficiaries from the vulnerable and poor households stand to benefit from the P20 per kg. rice under the “Benteng Bigas Meron Na” (BBM Na) program, set to be launched in Guimaras on July 8.
Guimaras Provincial Agriculturist Alvin Nava on Thursday, July 3, said they are still finalizing the details, but initially, they will start with 1,000 beneficiaries during the launch.
“It’s only a maximum of 10 kilos per beneficiary,” he said in a phone interview.
The provincial government inked the memorandum of agreement with Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) in the first week of June for the procurement of 5,000 bags of rice from the National Food Authority (NFA), targeting some 25,000 households across the province.
“NFA Guimaras is currently preparing 1,000 bags at its warehouse,” Nava said.
After the rollout, he said the provincial government will start positioning the low-cost rice in every municipality to make it accessible to target beneficiaries.
The provincial government allocated P1.625 million for its subsidy share of P6.50 per kg.
Under the cost-sharing scheme, the national government will shoulder the remaining subsidy to reduce the cost of rice to P20 per kg.
“Governor Ma. Lucille Nava wanted to pool all available funds from other offices, aside from the governor’s office, because we wanted to have it sustained,” the agriculture officer said.
While the provincial government prioritizes the vulnerable sector for the BBM Na, he said the governor wanted to open it for all, if possible.PNA
