• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
“The Bigas ng Bayan” is now in Bago City, Negros Occidental, selling quality rice at P25 per kilo.
The “Bigas ng Bayan” is a program spearheaded by the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental, who also previously tapped the farmers group through the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Region VI Office for its Dagyaw Project, an initiative that promotes farm-level productivity interventions.
The selling of rice at P25 per kilo was started in October this year by members of the Federation of Irrigators Association of Central Negros-Bago River Irrigation System (FIACN-BRIS) at the Food Terminal Market of Occidental Negros in Bacolod City.
The activity in Bago City was in coordination with the administration of Mayor Nicholas Yulo.
“The combined efforts and initiatives of the FIACN-BRIS, provincial and local government units, and the NIA is a testament to the PBBM Administration’s vision of combating hunger and poverty and achieving food sufficiency and security across the country,” according to NIA Administrator Engr. Eduardo Guillen.
“NIA continues its commitment to developing efficient and sustainable irrigation systems to uplift the lives of the Filipino farmers with the aim of propelling wealth creation opportunities in the agricultural sector of the country,” Guillen said in a statement issued by Malacañang.
FIACN BRIS president Pedro Limpangog disclosed earlier that they allocated 10 percent of their total production for the Negrenses in the vulnerable sectors including senior citizens, indigents, and persons with disabilities (PWDs).
Limpangog said it also aims to help Negrense families especially the vulnerable sector buy affordable rice, and at the same time help our farmers have an assured income, lower the cost and improve farm production.*
