Women beneficiaries in their Bagong Pilipinas give their best smiles showing the P10,000 cash assistance from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Presidential Assistance for Farmers Fisherfolks (PAFFF) program. (PIA photo)
BACOLOD CITY (PIA) — Amidst cheers from more than 8,000 people in attendance at the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos (UNO-R), President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. led the distribution of the Presidential Assistance for Farmers, Fisherfolk, and their Families (PAFFF) program and other farm inputs and implements.
Some 8,315 beneficiaries received P10,000 each from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The beneficiaries also received five kilos of rice each from the Office of House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
President Marcos said this would help alleviate the plight of the people in the province, ravaged by the El Niño phenomenon and the recent eruption of Mt. Kanlaon.
In his speech, he called the farmers and fisherfolk the real heroes of society and pledged to look for ways to help them cope economically.
The President, upon arrival at the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos grounds, went straight to turn over farm machinery, farm equipment and implements, coconut seedlings, fertilizers, 10 boat units of 20-footer fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) boats from the Department of Agriculture, and other projects from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), among others.
He said he came to Bacolod to let the people feel the government’s love and support for the true modern heroes who work tirelessly for the country.
In response to the Mt. Kanlaon eruption, he said the DSWD had distributed P24 million worth of assistance to Bago City, La Carlota City, and the towns of La Castellana, Moises Padilla, and Pontevedra.
“Aside from this, the Department of Agriculture is doing research on the effects of the Mt. Kanlaon eruption’s effects on the agriculture and fishery sectors and determining the next appropriate steps to be taken,” he said.
The DA 6’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center and Livestock Rescue Evacuation Center are also on alert to address the needs of the animals, he added.
“The Negros Occidental Provincial Veterinary Office is also giving medicines in the town of La Castellana and sending veterinarians and experts to help affected animals.”
Marcos highlighted the impact of El Niño on farmers and fisherfolk. He mentioned that the DA is conducting ongoing research to help them recover from these damages.
“I promise that no farmer, fisherfolk, or any Filipino for that matter will be left behind towards achieving the dream of having a Bagong Pilipinas,” he said. (AAL/Lljr/PIA 6 Negros Occidental)
