DOLE brings ‘Benteng Bigas Meron na’ to Subic Bay Freeport workers

Subic Bay Freeport – “Marami yan! Ako rin [pahingi]! I am glad that you have President Marcos who loves you. We don’t have this in Japan!”

This was the statement made by Cresc Inc. President Kazutomo Murata during the launching of the “Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) na” program by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in the late afternoon of 4 September 2025.

Cresc Incorporated, a leading consumable printer ink manufacturer based in Japan, is located inside Moonbay Marina, the Central Business District of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. The company is the second in the Freeport engaged in the printer refilling trade.

Around 300 qualified workers were among the first wave of beneficiaries of the “Benteng Bigas Meron na” program, which was coordinated with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño recalled that when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed him to lead the agency, he was asked to “take care of Subic Bay workers.”

“Here in Subic Bay, we regard our workers as the bloodline of our economy, and I’m glad that this program would greatly help the minimum wage earners is being accorded to us here,” Aliño said.

SBMA Labor Department manager and OIC–Deputy Administrator for Legal Affairs Atty. Melvin Varias said the DOLE-led program aims to bring P20-per-kilo rice to the workforce of the Subic Bay Freeport.

Varias added that the program here, spearheaded by DOLE Chief Labor and Employment Officer Reynante Lugtu, is a flagship program of President Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr. to stabilize rice prices and make basic goods more accessible.

Cresc Inc. President Murata expressed his gratitude to the DOLE and SBMA for being chosen as one of the first companies to benefit from the program.

Meanwhile, Aliño added that aside from the government programs, the agency has three projects that would benefit workers, namely: dormitories to bring workers closer to their place of work; the development of the Mini Golf Course into a park to provide a place for unwinding; and an e-bus system that the agency is working to operate at a very minimal fare, if not free.

The beneficiary workers were allotted a maximum of ten kilos each, to be paid through salary deduction by the Cresc Inc. administration.