ANTIQUE – This province has officially joined the implementation of the “Benteng Bigas Meron Na” (BBM Na) program with its initial rollout held on July 4 at the multi-purpose gym of the Antique Electric Cooperative in San Jose Buenavista town.
A total of 105 minimum wage earners from four selected commercial establishments were the first beneficiaries of the program, which allows them to purchase rice at a subsidized price of P20 per kilogram.
This initiative is a result of the partnership between the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Agriculture (DA). Under the agreement, both agencies shoulder P13 of the P33 per kilogram price of rice sourced from the National Food Authority (NFA), allowing it to be sold to qualified beneficiaries for only P20/kilo.
The program rollout was led by NFA Region 6 Assistant Regional Director Herrielle V. Jumagbas and DOLE Antique Provincial Director Ma. Cecilia Acebuque.
Jumagbas assured beneficiaries that the rice being distributed is locally procured by the NFA from farmers. She also noted that Antique currently has the highest number of establishments nationwide that have availed of the BBM Na program for their minimum wage employees.
Acebuque, meanwhile, said the program is currently limited to workers in the province’s formal sector, but more beneficiaries are expected once additional establishments meet the program’s requirements — including entering into a memorandum of agreement with the Food Terminal Incorporated (FTI).
The program launch fulfills President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s campaign promise to make affordable and quality rice available at P20/kilo for Filipinos.
DOLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma has expressed full support for the program’s nationwide implementation to benefit minimum wage earners./PN
