The provincial government of Iloilo has secured a PHP19-million counterpart fund to support the implementation of the “Rice Para sa Bayan at 20 Pesos” (RPB@20) program, which aims to make the staple more affordable for targeted beneficiaries.
The initiative will be integrated into the SiPag at TiyaGa (Siguradong Pagkain, Tiyak na Kalusugan) MoRProGRes sa Bagong Pilipinas, a food and health security convergence program under Executive Order No. 40, signed by Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. and officially launched on Monday.
Defensor said the province is prepared to roll out the RPB@20 program for beneficiaries of its malnutrition initiatives until December.
The fund sourced from the Office of the Governor will cover the PHP6.50 per kilo subsidy to help lower the rice price.
However, the provincial government is yet to discuss with partner agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Health, its operationalization.
“We will level off with our partners and the stakeholders on the operationalization, the viability and the sustainability. We are clear, the beneficiaries of RPB@20 are families with undernourished children. We know who they are. We know where they are because we have already given assistance to them in the past,” he said.
Based on the 2024 Operation Timbang Plus survey, Iloilo province has identified 11,776 undernourished children aged 0 to 59 months, classified as underweight, stunted, or wasted.
The RPB@20 rice will be made available through Kadiwa ng Pangulo centers, Bigasan ng Bayan outlets and other government-run retail stores.
Among the areas they need to prepare are procurement, logistical requirements, identification system for beneficiaries and coupons, among others.
DA-Western Visayas technical director Ma. Teresa Solis also requested local government units to open and operate their Kadiwa stores as selling centers of the RPB@20.
“We have been giving financial grants to qualified farmers cooperatives associations for operating Kadiwa stores,” she said. (PNA)
