BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — The City Government of Baguio has been approved as a beneficiary of the 2026 Local Government Support Fund-Financial Assistance (LGSF-FA) under the Bagong Pilipinas Rice Program, with a total allocation of P56 million.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong announced the development after receiving a letter from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. dated February 23, 2026 affirming the grant of the assistance intended to provide rice subsidies to qualified families.
The P56 million allocation for the city is part of the almost P58-billion LGSF allocation for 2026 which aims to provide direct support to families and communities nationwide and will be downloaded straight to the local government unit in a direct and digitized manner to ensure faster implementation.
President Marcos expressed confidence in the city’s leadership, emphasizing that the funds must be utilized transparently and in accordance with existing government budgeting, accounting, and auditing laws.
“As a former Local Chief Executive myself, I entrust to you and to all our local governments the efficient, equitable, and effective delivery of social services and economic development programs so that this much-needed support is delivered and felt by every ordinary Filipino,” the President said.
In response, the mayor thanked the President for the assistance and assured that the distribution of the assistance in the City will not be influenced by political interests.
“Rest assured that there will be no ‘epal’ in the distribution to beneficiaries. The assistance will go directly to the people who truly need it,” the mayor said.
“With the direct release of funds to LGUs, he said implementation will now be more transparent, efficient and equitable,” he added.
Magalong noted that in the past, similar programs were reportedly controlled by influential members of Congress. He expressed appreciation that the program is “no longer politicized.”
He also assured residents that proper guidelines will be followed to ensure fair identification of beneficiaries and accountable use of the funds. Further details on the implementation and distribution schedule are expected to be announced soon.
According to the President, the Bagong Pilipinas Rice Program LGSF-FA aims to provide 60 kilos of rice annually to over five million Filipino families nationwide.
Under the program, each qualified family will receive 10 kilos of rice for six months every year.
He said the P58-billion LGSF will also support other priority projects, including health facility upgrades, disaster preparedness initiatives, farm-to-market roads, electrification and water supply systems.(By Aileen P. Refuerzo)
