The provincial government and the 43 local government units (LGUs) of the province signed a memorandum of agreement on Wednesday in preparation for the rollout of the Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na! in Iloilo.
The program is integrated under the SiPag at TiyaGa for MoRProGRes sa Bagong Pilipinas, a convergence program designed to strengthen the agriculture sector while addressing malnutrition in the province.
Signatories to the agreement were Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. and Badiangan Mayor Suzette Mamon, who is president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines – Iloilo chapter.
The Provincial Agriculturist Office said the provincial government purchased 20,000 bags of rice, at 50 kg. per bag, from the Food Terminal, Inc.
The provincial government has appropriated PHP26.5 million for the purchase.
Mamon said the local government will sell the rice to target beneficiaries at PHP20 per kg., for a maximum of 30 kg. per beneficiary.
“In support of the program, which is very laudable, we will execute the same in our local area. It could help a lot because among the target beneficiaries are the nutritionally compromised children or families,” she said in an interview.
Mamon said they will link with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Iloilo Provincial Health Office for the list of families with nutritionally compromised children.
“There is a timeline, but then if you are talking about execution, we are starting the legwork towards the implementation,” she said.
Provincial Health Officer 1, Dr. Wendel Marcelo, said the intervention “directly addresses the urgent nutritional needs of Iloilo’s most vulnerable population.”
He said the key component of the initiative is the provision of subsidized rice at PHP20 per kg., specifically to undernourished children less than five years old who are the target beneficiaries of the nutrition program of the province.
“Following the validation of the master list of beneficiaries, successful encoding into the database and cross-matching by DSWD, the number of beneficiaries who will be receiving assistance is 7,738,” he said. (PNA)