The municipal government of Luna in Apayao province is sourcing rice from local farmers’ cooperatives for its rice assistance program, providing beneficiaries with food aid while helping farmers market their produce, Mayor Januario Garde said Thursday.
The initiative is funded by the PHP5 million Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) allocation the municipality received from the Office of the President.
“Instead of buying rice supply from other provinces, we negotiated with local rice farming cooperatives to help provide the needed supply by buying the rice produced by their farmer-members,” Garde said in a media interview.
“This is two-way – giving assistance and helping the farmers sell their rice produce at a good price. It is a win-win situation for residents of our town,” he said.
The municipality has begun distributing the final two tranches of rice assistance to beneficiaries who earlier received the first two tranches, completing the four-quarter program.
Garde said the local government aims to finish the distribution before December.
Each household receives 10 kg. of rice per quarter, which the mayor described as a significant help to residents and local farmers.
Garde thanked President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for the LGSF allocation, which was provided to cities and municipalities in varying amounts.
He said the municipality initially intended to cover all households but found the PHP5 million allocation insufficient. The provincial government stepped in to provide additional assistance to households not covered by the municipal allocation.
“We do not want to leave anybody without receiving, so we remedied the situation by asking the provincial government to cover for them,” Garde said.
Marcos earlier directed the release of LGSF allocations to city and municipal governments specifically for rice assistance.
Barangays also received PHP200,000 each, with PHP100,000 earmarked for scholarships and the remaining PHP100,000 for priority projects. Provincial governments likewise received LGSF allocations, most of which were used to augment municipal government funds. (PNA)