More than 3,000 farmers in this province have received cash assistance from the government through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RCEF-RFFA) program.

The 3,337 farmer-beneficiaries received PHP5,000 each during the distribution activities held Monday and Tuesday at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center here.

An additional 1,663 beneficiaries will receive similar assistance on Wednesday.

“Tuloy-tuloy po ang ayuda ng Department of Agriculture at Pampanga provincial government sa ating mga magsasaka (The assistance of the Department of Agriculture and the Pampanga provincial government is continuous),” Governor Dennis Pineda said in a message read by his representative, District Board member Mylyn Pineda-Cayabyab, during the distribution.

Under the special provisions of the RCEF, the RFFA program provides PHP5,000 to each rice farmer who is listed in the Registry Systems for Basic Sectors in Agriculture and tills two hectares of land or less.

The fund comes from the rice tariffs collected annually in excess of the PHP10 billion allocated for the RCEF.

Crispulo Bautista, director of the Department of Agriculture in Central Luzon (DA-3), said the RCEF-RFFA aims to sustain its support to rice farmers who are affected by the drop in palay farm gate prices in time with the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

He said the release of cash assistance also provides relief to rice farmers affected by recent natural calamities and in securing farm inputs, such as fertilizer.

Aside from cash assistance, Bautista said the DA-3 is continuously providing various interventions to palay farmers, such as hybrid seeds, certified palay seeds, fertilizer discount vouchers and technical assistance.

During the event, farmer-beneficiaries were also provided free medical consultations, eyeglasses and food packs under the provincial government’s preventive health care program. (PNA)