DAR donates truck to Pampanga farmers to deliver food for PDLs

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has turned over a delivery truck to a farmer organization in Pampanga, which they can use to source out food supplies for persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the Bureau of Jail and Management Penology (BJMP).

DAR-Central Luzon Regional Director James Arsenio Ponce said the Foton delivery truck was given to the Sto. Tomas-San Luis Farmers Association, Inc., the lead consolidator of the Alliance of Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) agrarian reform beneficiary organizations (ARBO) in Pampanga.

Under the DAR, the BJMP and ARBO’s agreement, the BJMP will directly purchase the food requirements of the PDLs from the farmers’ organizations based on the current market price.

“The hauling truck worth P1.475 million will be utilized for the delivery of eggs to various institutional buyers in the province Pampanga,” Ponce said in a statement on Thursday.

Ponce explained that both the truck donation and DAR’s partnership with the BJMP are part of the government’s EPAHP program to provide marketing support to farmers and ensure the market of the produced products of the Alliance of EPAHP ARBO in the province.

A total of 261 farmers will benefit from this project that could help increase their household incomes through improved production and access to markets.

“It will also minimize post-harvest losses, increase value-addition and enhance the quality of goods that will be sold to the markets,” he added.

Sto. Tomas-San Luis Farmers Association, Inc. chairperson Fredeliza Miranda thanked DAR for the support to the farmers, saying that through this partnership, they will “now have a steady market for their products and they could now demand fair pricing for their commodities.”

The ARBOs include the Nagdadamayang Magpapatubig ng Sta. Rita, Inc.,  the Sn. Carlos-Sn. Luis Farmers Association Pampanga, Inc., and United ARBs Agricultural Cooperative. — Giselle Ombay/BM, GMA News