Some 4,500 minimum wage earners from Western Visayas stand to benefit from the pilot implementation of the “Benteng Bigas Meron Na!,” a project of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Following the nationwide launch on June 13, a total of 250 workers from a construction firm and a manpower agency in Iloilo have availed of the subsidized P20 per kilo rice.

“It applies to all provinces and covers around 4,500 workers with 33 partner establishments,” DOLE-Western Visayas Assistant Regional Director Melisa Navarra said in an interview on Monday, June 23.

She said an establishment in Antique with 47 minimum wage workers and another in Capiz with 61 workers are ready to submit their memoranda of agreement with the Food Terminal, Inc. (FTI).

Initially, the program is limited to workers from manpower agencies, construction firms and labor sector groups, including those in Negros Occidental’s Human Resource Network.

Each qualified worker may buy up to 10 kilos of rice monthly at P20 per kilo, with the DA subsidizing P13.

“The agreement is that within June or early July, all companies enrolled with the program will have the implementation. Other provinces are already preparing,” she added.

The companies will be the ones to purchase and request authority to release rice from the warehouse of the National Food Authority, as per the agreement with FTI.

“NFA assured it has enough good quality rice to provide all covered beneficiaries for this year and the remaining implementation of the program. The pilot run is from June to December, but the plan is that it will be rolled out in 2026,” she added. (PNA)