Bicol: More than 131,000 rice farmers across six provinces in the Bicol region have received PHP7,000 cash aid from the Department of Agriculture.

According to Philippines News Agency, Lovella Guarin, chief of the Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Section of DA-5, stated that the aid came from the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA), totaling approximately PHP917 million for the entire region.

The beneficiaries include 30,219 farmers from Albay who received PHP211.53 million; 10,099 farmers from Camarines Norte with PHP70.69 million; 45,803 farmers from Camarines Sur receiving PHP320.62 million; 6,567 farmers from Catanduanes who got PHP45.9 million; 17,034 farmers from Masbate with PHP119.23 million; and 21,351 farmers from Sorsogon who received PHP149.45 million.

Guarin added that of the total target of 142,600 farmers in Bicol who are eligible for the aid, 92 percent have received it. “The beneficiaries already possess cash cards through which the RFFA cash assistance, funded by the tariffs on imported rice as part of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, is directly deposited,” she said. Guarin noted that new beneficiaries would be issued cash cards this year.