THE Department of Agriculture (DA), through Regional Field Office 3 and Municipal Agriculture Office of Lubao, spearheaded the distribution of financial assistance and intervention monitoring cards to farmers of Lubao town.
The distribution was held on February 8 at the Sta. Cruz Covered Court in Lubao.
Under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RCEF-RFFA) program, a farmer will receive assistance worth P5,000 direct cash assistance. This fund came from the P7.6 billion excess tariff collection from rice imports in 2019 and 2020.
The card will serve both as identification and a cash card to access government assistance for farmers enrolled in the farmer’s registry. The card was a collaboration with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Rural Bank Association of the Philippines (RBAP), and SquidPay.
According to the officer-in-charge of the Municipal Agriculture Office, Perry Roque, more than 900 farmers will be the first to be given Thursday, February 10.
The distribution is expected to end and be completed in Lubao on February 28.
Based on the below guidelines, farmers registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture or RSBSA with farmland measuring two hectares or less can be included in the program beneficiaries.
The card will also benefit other farmers in the agriculture sector, such as hog raisers and fishing communities.
According to the DA, a total of 3.55 million are enrolled in the RSBSA in the whole country.
The biggest number of farmers and fisherfolk registered are from Western Visayas (with 369,281), Ilocos Region (363,119), Cagayan Valley (275,045), and Central Luzon (247,833).