SUBSIDY CARDS. At least 110 corn farmers in Ilocos Sur receive on Tuesday (Sept. 13, 2022) their fuel discount cards worth PHP3,000 each at the Provincial Livelihood and Development Center in Vigan City. The Department of Agriculture has pre-identified 12,244 target beneficiaries under the fuel subsidy program in the region. (Photo courtesy of the Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur)
LAOAG CITY – A total of 4,653 corn farmers from the four provinces of the Ilocos Region have so far received their fuel subsidy worth PHP13.9 million, according to the latest report from the regional Department of Agriculture.
As of September 14, the DA said this comprises only 38 percent of the 12,244 target beneficiaries.
Florante Gallebo Jr., corn focal person in the region, said a total of 1,768 fuel discount voucher cards are ready for distribution next week mostly in Pangasinan followed by La Union, Ilocos Norte, and Ilocos Sur.
This week alone, a total of PHP3.7 million worth of fuel discount cards were distributed to 1,259 corn farmers in Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan.
"Each beneficiary is entitled to a PHP3,000 fuel discount from participating gas stations," he said.
Corn farmers here expressed their gratitude as the program helps them reduce their fuel costs, especially since the corn planting season is fast approaching.
In February last year, the DA, in collaboration with various local government units, started to identify the beneficiaries who enlisted in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) to facilitate access to any agriculture-related assistance program of the government.
Registering with the RSBSA is the minimum requirement in availing of agriculture and fishery-related government services such as financial assistance, subsidiary funding, and insurance services.
It is an electronic compilation of basic information about farmers, farm workers, fishers, and other target agriculture-related beneficiaries of the DA. Their data are encoded in the farmers and fishery registry system managed by the DA-Central Office. (PNA)
