SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The Department of Agriculture has started giving PHP5,000 cash assistance to 34,333 rice farmers in Antique as provided for under Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).
“Farmer-beneficiaries of the cash assistance are those who own 2 hectares and below rice area as well as registered with Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBA)," Agricultural Program Coordinating Office (APCO) officer-in-charge Sonie Guanco said in an interview on Tuesday.
The first batch is composed of 1,021 farmer-beneficiaries from the capital town of San Jose de Buenavista who received their cash assistance during the program launching on March 14.
On the same day, some 813 farmers from the municipality of Belison also received the same benefits.
Guanco said they target to complete the distribution of the cash assistance throughout the province by March 30.
“We intend to finish the distribution of the cash assistance in the island Municipality of Caluya where there are 199 farmer-beneficiaries by March 30,” he said.
The farmers can use the amount to buy priority needs for their farms like rice seeds, fertilizers, and other farm chemicals.
He added that they encourage farmers to coordinate with their respective Municipal Agriculture Officers (MAOs) to learn about their scheduled distribution of the cash assistance and be able to personally receive the amount.
Department of Agriculture Western Visayas Regional Executive Director Remelyn Recoter together with Acting Governor Edgar Denosta and San Jose de Buenavista Mayor Elmer Untaran led the distribution on Monday. (PNA)