• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Negros Occidental provincial government is selling P20 per kilo rice for Pulupandan residents starting this week, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday (June 9).
Lacson, however, clarified that the initial 50 sacks of rice to be sold to Pulupandan residents will not come from the National Food Authority (NFA), but are produced by members of the Federation of Irrigators’ Association of Central Negros-Bago River Irrigation System (FIACN-BRIS).
While the provincial government allocated P7 million for the purchase of rice from NFA in participation of the “Bente Bigas Mo” national program, Lacson said they have yet to receive a communication from the government agency on its availability.
He said the NFA prioritized highly-urbanized Bacolod City in the allocation of rice supply.
Before the “Bente Bigas Mo” program was launched by the national government, the Negros Occidental provincial government has already established a partnership with FIACN-BRIS in the selling of P25 kilogram rice per kilo at the Food Terminal Market of Occidental Negros.
The irrigators association, however, lowered it down to P20 per kilogram, Lacson said.
“After Pulupandan, we will also visit other areas,” he added.
“It’s like a rolling store. We will not focus on one area,” the governor said, adding that it will be a continuing program of FIACN-BRIS, but on a limited scale.
The provincial government is subsidizing the operations of FIACN-BRIS by assisting them in the labor component and providing them with fertilizers.
“When the harvest season comes, the rice farmers expressed their intention to sell more rice at a cheaper price,” Lacson said.
An amount of P3 million has been earmarked by the provincial government to subsidize the operational expenses of FIACN-BRIS for the rice program. | GB
