By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
With rice serving as the foundation of Filipinos’ food consumption habits, the government continues to double down on its efforts to ensure that the citizenry continues to have equitable and affordable access to this staple grain.
At an event held inside a mall in Manila on Thursday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. led the pilot launch of the Biyayang Bigas initiative, which aims to dispense 10-kilogram bags of rice to various local government units (LGUs) across the country.
Approximately 80,000 residents in the nation’s capital are set to benefit from the initial phase of the program, with the President promising an expanded rollout to other locales in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
President Marcos Jr. explained, hailing this initiative as a byproduct of reforms made to the LGSF, “Ginawa po natin ito sa pamamagitan ng tinatawag na LGSF. ‘yun ay Local Government Support Fund. Pagbaba ng pondo sa ating mga LGU, LGU executives ay agad-agad nakikita natin ang resulta.
Alam naman natin, pag tumaas ang presyo ng langis, sabay-sabay lalo na ang pagkain. Kaya yun ang binabantayan namin nang mabuti para kahit papaano, hindi gaano kabigat ang magiging epekto sa taumbayan.”
He went on to tackle the inner workings of the LGSF, and reiterated the launch of the “Sa Bagong Pilipinas, Bawat Bayan Makikinabang” on April 6, which addresses the pain points in the implementation of LGSF by downloading the funds straight into the coffers of LGUs.
The Chief Executive likewise noted the timeliness of the Biyayang Bigas initiative’s launch, which coincided with the beginning of the Middle East crisis that continues to disrupt global trade and energy markets.
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