CANDABA, Pampanga — Around 1,000 duck raisers from two municipalities of this province received feed subsidy from the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Office of the 4th District of Pampanga in Barangay Bahay Pare of this town on Monday.

According to the DA, Agriculture Secretary Francis Tiu Laurel and 4th District Rep. Ana York Bondoc led the distribution of the feed subsidy for the duck raisers of Candaba and San Luis, two of the top producers of duck eggs in Central Luzon.

Candaba Mayor Rene Maglanque, DA-III Executive Director Eduardo Lapuz Jr. and other local officials, accompanied the two officials. Maglanque expressed his gratitude to Secretary Laurel for providing the duck raisers the subsidy needed to boost their livelihood.

He said that Pampanga is known as having the best duck raisers in the country, with the town of Candaba at the forefront. The official added that he has always supported the duck raising industry in Candaba that has contributed a lot to the development of the town.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Genevieve Velicaria-Guevarra, along with DA and representatives from Food Terminal Inc., paid a visit to the New Marulas Public Market in Valenzuela City early Friday.

The said visit’s primary focus is on the implementation of maximum suggested retail price on both imported rice and local pork.

The surprise visit followed a report from Valenzuela City Mayor Wes Gatchalian, who highlighted that rice labeled “President,” tagged as local but suspected to be imported was being sold for P62 per kilo in Marulas Market, P13 above the MSRP of P49 per kilo for imported rice.

During the visit, Guevarra noted that the DA team did not find the “President” brand in most stalls. “We were informed that the local government unit had met with retailers and instructed them to suspend the sale of President Rice, as it is currently under investigation,” she said in her report to Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel.

Despite this, the team collected samples of other rice brands, including Bachelor, Kokuyo and Shining Star, for quality checks. Representatives from the DA Bureau of Plant Industry already collected samples of “President” rice yesterday.