News Details

131K rice farmers in Bicol receive cash aid

NPO

•

August 4, 2025

 More than 131,000 rice farmers across six provinces in the Bicol region have received PHP7,000 cash aid from the Department of Agriculture.

In a report Monday, Lovella Guarin, chief of the Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Section of DA-5, said the aid came from the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA), totaling approximately PHP917 million for the entire region.

The beneficiaries include farmers from Albay: 30,219 farmers (PHP211.53 million); Camarines Norte: 10,099 farmers (PHP70.69 million); Camarines Sur: 45,803 farmers (PHP320.62 million); Catanduanes: 6,567 farmers (PHP45.9 million); Masbate: 17,034 farmers (PHP119.23 million), and Sorsogon: 21,351 farmers (PHP149.45 million)

Guarin added that of the total target of 142,600 farmers in Bicol who are eligible for the aid, 92 percent have received it.

"The beneficiaries already possess cash cards through which the RFFA cash assistance, funded by the tariffs on imported rice as part of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, is directly deposited," she said.

Guarin noted that new beneficiaries would be issued cash cards this year. 

PNA