By Orlan Jabagat
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines (PIA) — The Puerto Princesa City government started distributing 10 kilos of rice on June 11 to 16,000 poorest of the poor families in the city under the Bagong Pilipinas Rice Program of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
The distribution was simultaneously conducted in 60 barangays.
The Bagong Pilipinas Rice Program is financed through the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), of which the city of Puerto Princesa received P48 million.
According to City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) Officer Remy Beltran, 60 out of 66 barangays in the city will benefit from the program, while six barangays declined it.
Its beneficiaries are the poor and disadvantaged sectors such as poor farmers, poor fishermen, the transport sector, persons with disability (PWDs), senior citizens, solo parents, and Indigenous Peoples (IPs).
Beltran said the computation of beneficiaries was based on the actual total population of the city, which is 300,000 plus, and the 16,000 families turn out to be only five percent of the city’s population.
“Kasi what is 16,000, kasi ilan ang population ng Puerto Princesa, nasa 300,000 plus. Sixteen thousand families lang ang beneficiaries natin, paano mo s’ya idi-distribute? So, I have to think of a way na equally distributed siya at lahat ng 66 barangays ay makakasali, but upon getting the right number based on the actual population para mag-esakto sa 16,000, lumalabas na five percent lang s’ya ng total actual ng population ng bawat barangay, kaya may mga barangay na kakaunti o maliit lang ang bilang ng mga beneficiaries,” Beltran explained.
She also assured that all beneficiaries underwent validation by the CSWD Office and were certified and confirmed by the Barangay Chief and barangay council members.
Beltran also said that those beneficiaries who were given rice at the beginning of the distribution will still be the same beneficiaries that will be receiving 10 kilos of rice within six months.
Meanwhile, the barangays that declined the said program are the barangays of Bacungan, Pagkakaisa, Bagong Silang, Princesa, San Isidro, and Maligaya because their allocation is small based on population percentage.
“Dahil maliit lang ang allocation nila batay sa population. Siyempre, kung maliit ‘yong population mo, maliit din ‘yong number of beneficiaries na mapupunta sa iyo na fiver percent. So ‘yon ang ginawa nilang dahilan, nag-refuse sila kasi marami daw magagalit na kabarangay nila. Pero ‘di ba dapat nga matuwa sila kasi biyaya ‘yan?” she said.
“Kasi sa amin, binalik-balikan namin sila. Two, three, four, times, five times at ipinaliwanag na meron namang deserving qualified na constituents n’yo bakit hindi n’yo i-recommend, but they still refused. Isa sa kanila nag-waive, may documents kami na nag-waive sila. Tapos ‘yong iba naman na lima, ay ayaw nang makipag-usap sa amin,” Beltran added.
Before the distribution, the CSWDO coordinated with the Punong Barangay on the actual date of distribution. They also requested the barangay officials to inform their constituents and bring valid ID for identification purposes to ensure that the rice entrusted by the national government to local government was received by the right beneficiaries.
She added that this government’s rice subsidy program is a great help for deserving beneficiaries.
“Malaking tulong siya sa mga… lalong-lalo na talaga sa mga mahihirap na talagang deserved nila na makakuha din ng tulong from the national government. We are happy to say na ‘yong talagang napili naming beneficiaries ay they really deserved to have it for the six months,” Beltran said. (OCJ/JBG/PIA MIMAROPA-Palawan)
