89% of target beneficiaries receive pandemic relief: DA

SOME  525,478 rice farmers affected by the coronavirus pandemic have availed of the PHP5,000 cash aid from the government, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Thursday.  

In a virtual presser, DA Assistant Secretary Noel Reyes reported that 89 percent of its target beneficiaries under the Financial Subsidy to Rice Farmers (FSRF) have received the financial relief.

The PHP5,000 cash subsidy is part of the DA’s initiatives to assist small rice farmers, who plant one hectare or less, located in 24 provinces not covered under the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) program.

The PHP3-billion FSRF fund is earmarked under the 2020 General Appropriations Act.

Meanwhile, Reyes noted that 97 percent, or around 582,117 of the farmer-beneficiaries, under the RFFA have been served.

The RFFA Program is an unconditional cash transfer program which aims to give PHP5,000 financial assistance each to rice farmers tilling 0.5 to 2 hectares of land in 33 provinces nationwide.

"Higit 582,000 ang nabigyan ng ayuda ng tig-limang libo. Sila po ay naka-register sa ating farmers registry na tinatawag na RSBSA (More than 582,000 [rice farmers] have received cash aid worth PHP5,000 each. They are registered under our farmers' registry called RSBSA [Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture])," Reyes said.

These programs are part of the government's social amelioration programs (SAPs) in response to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak under the Bayanihan to Heal as One law.[By Filane Mikee Cervantes]