DSWD: 37,375 farmers, fishermen get rice subsidy

A total of 37,375 small-scale farmers and fishermen from Metro Manila and nine other regions were among the beneficiaries of a P67.57-million government rice subsidy. The Department of Social Welfare and Development said the rice subsidy is a short-term measure to help them cope with rising costs of living during the lean months. "The farmers and fishermen participated in the four-day Cash for Training and seven-day Cash for Work. They were trained on food production, disaster management and planting methods for palay/corn, vegetable and family disaster preparedness and mitigation," the DSWD said in a news release on its website late last week. Aside from Metro Manila, the beneficiaries were from Ilocos, Central Luzon, Bicol, Central and Eastern Visayas, Regions 9 to 11, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Under the subsidy, the beneficiaries will receive cash assistance in exchange for training and community services rendered. After their training, the beneficiaries rendered community service, such as river dredging and embankment, digging and dredging of canals and drainage, repair of small–scale irrigation, tree planting or reforestation projects, school clean-up through the “Brigada Eskwela 2011," communal gardening, repair of damaged day care centers (DCCs) and other community facilities. Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said the cash assistance for the beneficiaries is based on the daily minimum wage in their respective regions. The regional wage rate ranges from P219 to P367. Soliman said 50 percent of the cash assistance shall be used to buy food or rice in the market to boost the economy in the area. The DSWD said the rice subsidy is also being implemented in Cagayan Valley, Southern Luzon, Region 11, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). It has a budget of P4.18 billion for some 1.57 million small scale farmers and fisherfolks. The DSWD Field Offices in these regions are now facilitating the payment of beneficiaries in their respective areas. Beneficiaries were identified through the DSWD National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) project based on their 2010 data of poor farmers and fisherfolk per city and municipality. — RSJ, GMA News