SOME 6,000 members of the agricultural sector in Benguet are now eligible to receive aid from the share of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in the excess and unallotted rice tariffication fund from the national government.
Around 5,800 rice and corn farmers in Benguet out of the registered 87,662 will be able to receive P5,000 cash assistance under the Rice Competitiveness Enhanced Fund- Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Phase II (RCEF-RFFAP).
Corn farmers and fisherfolk are also able to claim P3,000 intervention monitoring cards (IMCs) for fuel, but only those who are not covered by the RCEF-RFFAP are eligible for fuel assistance.
According to the DA, some P451.46 million in total has been allotted for use in the RCEF-RFFAP in CAR.
The fund came from the PHP80.9-billion unallotted fund collected by the government under the rice tariffication program.
At least 6,863 rice farmers are registered with the Registry System of Basic Agriculture (RSBA) or those who are listed in the DA’s registry of farmers.
According to Department of Agriculture (DA)-CAR Regional Director Dr. Cameron Odsey, the assistance is being provided in order to ensure constant livelihood amongst the farmers in the province.
“The government is giving assistance because food is important. Let us continue to till the land, and fish so that our fellow Filipinos will have food to eat,” Odsey said.
