• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Senator Imee Marcos has called on congressional districts, local government units (LGUs) and barangay councils in Negros Occidental to help farmers register in the Department of Agriculture (DA) Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) to avail of financial assistance of P5,000 each.
The call was made by Marcos after noticing that the list of farmers in Visayas, especially in Negros, in the RSBSA appears to be outdated compared to Luzon, whose rice farmers are getting help from the DA as drought is now being experienced in almost all provinces in the country.
The RSBSA is a registry of farmers, fisherfolk, and farm laborers that serves as a targeting mechanism for the identification of beneficiaries for different agriculture-related programs and services of the government.
“With subsidies now being given to rice farmers, I think it is important that LGUs should get involve,” Marcos said.
The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist has reported that damage to crops caused by El Niño in Negros Occidental has increased to P77.7 million as of March 1.
The drought has affected 1,669.71 hectares of farm lots in 76 barangays of 11 LGUs.
About 100,000 hectares of sugarcane plantation in Negros Island were also affected by the drought, according to Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation.
In a press briefing at the municipal hall of Calatrava on Saturday (March 9), Marcos also said that fisherfolk are entitled to receive a P3,000 subsidy, if their names are included in the list of RSBSA.
“It is important that they get their share,” she added.
Marcos, accompanied by Negros Occidental 1st District Rep. Gerardo Valmayor Jr., led the distribution of financial assistance to 2,000 residents of Escalante City and Calatrava.
Each beneficiary got P3,000 under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. | GB
