Around 3,000 farmers from the municipalities of Padre Burgos, Malitbog, Macrohon, Limasawa, and Tomas Oppus, Bontoc, and the City of Maasin received financial assistance under the Presidential Assistance to Farmers and Fisherfolks Program (PAFFP), during a separate rollout activity conducted in Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte on May 19, 2026 and in Maasin City on May 22, 2026.
The initiative forms part of the governmentโs continuing efforts to provide immediate support to farmers affected by economic challenges and rising production costs, particularly those who remained actively engaged in farming during the period of the oil crisis.
In his opening message, Mr. Dax Gabriel Morfe, Assistant Division Chief of the Field Operations Division, reiterated that no authorized representatives were allowed to claim the assistance except in cases where the beneficiary was bedridden or had passed away during the validation process.
Eligible beneficiaries of the program were farmers registered under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) and validated as actively farming during the oil crisis.
Beneficiaries laud and expressed gratitude for the aid, citing its significance in helping meet both household and agricultural needs amid difficult economic conditions.
One of the recipients, Bienvenido Beronio, shared how the assistance would be utilized for his family and farm.
โ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐บ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต ๐ถ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐จ๐ข๐ด, ๐ด๐ถ๐ฅ-๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ถ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต ๐ถ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ. ๐๐ช๐ด๐ข๐จ ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐บ, ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ช ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ. ๐๐ข๐ฃ-๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ,โ he said.
[We will use this assistance to buy rice, food, and if there is any amount left, we will purchase medicine for our rice fields. Even if it is small, this is already a huge help to us, especially now that times are becoming very difficult.]
Another beneficiary, Rosalindo Dolorito, also thanked the government and the Department of Agriculture for the timely intervention.
โ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต ๐ฅ๐บ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ช ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐จ ๐ด๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ-๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ. ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ต ๐ฌ๐ข๐ข๐บ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐จ ๐ด๐ข ๐๐ ๐ด๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข,โ she stated.
[The assistance I received will truly be used for our daily necessities. Thank you very much to the government and the Department of Agriculture for implementing this program.]
The rollout conducted in the Second District of Southern Leyte marks only the initial phase of the PAFFP implementation in the area. Succeeding payout caravans within the same district have yet to be finalized and will be formally announced upon completion of the necessary coordination and scheduling arrangements.
The Department of Agriculture continues to intensify the rollout of PAFFP across Eastern Visayas to ensure that qualified farmers receive much-needed support and assistance amid prevailing economic challenges affecting the agriculture sector.