DA: 2.9 million fisherfolk expected to benefit from P20-per-kilo rice

An estimated 2.9 million fisherfolk will be able to avail of up to 50 kilograms or five months worth of their allocation of the P20-per-kilogram rice under the “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!” program, a top official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Sunday.

According to DA assistant secretary and spokesperson Arnel de Mesa, fisherfolk will be able to buy up to 10 kilograms of rice per month, or avail of a one-time 50-kilogram purchase that will be good for five months.

“Isang kaban na ‘yun, pwede nilang bilhin kung meron silang budget, pwede ‘yun, o kaya kung gusto nila 10 or 20 kilos, depende during the time na bumili sila,” he said in an interview on GMA Super Radyo DZBB on Sunday evening.

(They can buy a whole sack if they have the budget, that’s possible, or if they want 10 or 20 kilos instead. It will depend on the time they make the purchase.)

The DA earlier this month said fisherfolk will be included in the list of beneficiaries who can avail the P20-per-kilo rice starting August 29.

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. earlier said that the coverage of the Benteng Bigas program would expand to guarantee that more sectors of the population can access the staple food at a cheaper cost.

Initially launched in the Visayas last April, at least 162 locations across the country have since been offering the cheaper subsidized rice, the DA had said. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA Integrated News