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The Department of Agriculture RFO 8 successfully launched the “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na” Program, offering rice at P20/kilo, in Brgy. Tacuranga, Palo, Leyte. The program provided significant financial savings to local families and served as a major highlight during the ๐˜—๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฌ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜‰๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ: ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ถ-๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ ๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ข ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฎ๐˜จ๐˜ข ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฅ๐˜ข ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ ๐˜—๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜จ๐˜ข ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ข.

โ€œ๐ป๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘  ๐‘˜๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘”๐‘Ž โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘›๐‘”๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘”๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘‘ ๐‘ฆ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘Ž. ๐ด๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘›๐‘”๐‘Ž ๐‘˜๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘Ž ๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ก โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘”๐‘Ž๐‘ , ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘ก ๐ถโ„Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘ฆ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘š๐‘”๐‘Ž ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘˜. ๐‘ƒ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž โ„Ž๐‘Ž ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘”๐‘Ž๐‘‘ โ„Ž๐‘Ž ๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘›, ๐‘›๐‘”๐‘Ž ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ๐‘‘๐‘Ž ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘ฆ๐‘Ž๐‘š ๐‘›๐‘”๐‘Ž ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘ฆ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘–๐‘™๐‘ฆ๐‘Ž โ„Ž๐‘Ž ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘‘-๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘‘๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘œ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘– ๐‘›๐‘”๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘–๐‘”,โ€ Jinky Parado, a mother of five and a 4Ps beneficiary shared.

[We are able save almost half of the price of the rice that we used to buy in the market. We can use the money for the Christmas party of our children. This is a big help for us who has nine members in our household.]

Around 1500 families belonging to the vulnerable sectors were expected to benefit from the said activity. This includes the 4Ps beneficiaries, solo parent, senior citizen, PWD, indigenous people, farmers and fisherfolk.

Meanwhile, Teresita Xizole, a senior citizen expressed her heartfelt gratitude to have availed the said program. โ€œ๐ท๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘œ ๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘ก โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘– ๐‘›๐‘”๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘Ž ๐‘˜๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ โ„Ž๐‘Ž ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘Ž ๐‘˜๐‘Ž๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘ค ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘š๐‘œ ๐‘˜๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘– โ„Žโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ก 2 ๐‘˜๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘™๐‘œ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘”๐‘Ž๐‘ . ๐‘€๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘–๐‘” ๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘‘ ๐‘›๐‘Ž ๐‘˜๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘ ๐‘˜๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘™๐‘Ž โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘˜ ๐‘›๐‘”๐‘Ž ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘Ž โ„Ž๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘™๐‘’๐‘”๐‘’ ๐‘ฆ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘Ž,โ€ she said.

[I am thankful for this program because we consume around two kilos of rice everyday. This can help us save money for the educational needs of my child who is in college.]

A total of 300 bags of sacks were prepared to be sold at P 20.00 per kilo. Each beneficiary was allowed to buy a maximum of 10 kilos.

The โ€œBenteng Bigas, Meron Naโ€ Program is set to launch in other provinces and municipalities in the region. This aims to provide the Filipino families, especially those at the marginalized sector, to have access to affordable and locally produced rice which can help in the departmentโ€™s battlecry for food security.