Romblon to provide rice aid to 24,000 families
MORE than 600 families in Barangay Sapang Uno, Ternate, Cavite receive rice aid on Friday from Bloomberry Cultural Foundation Inc., the corporate social responsibility arm of Solaire Resort and Casino.
Photograph by toto lozano FOR DAILY TRIBUNE
ROMBLON — Nearly 24,000 financially vulnerable families across Romblon are expected to receive rice assistance over the next three months under a P46-million food support initiative scheduled to begin this week.
Governor Trina Firmalo-Fabic said the program will benefit 23,879 households identified through the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS), which provides local governments with information on poverty and household living conditions.
Each qualified family will receive 10 kilograms of rice monthly from October through December, equivalent to 30 kilograms for the entire distribution period.
The provincial government plans to begin distribution in San Jose and Corcuera before extending the assistance to municipalities on Tablas, Romblon and Sibuyan islands.
Firmalo-Fabic said the provincial government had supplemented the initial funding allocation to accommodate more beneficiaries and expand the program's coverage.
The assistance package includes financial support from the national government.
The program is intended to help low-income families meet their food requirements while reducing the portion of household income spent on rice.
Unlike provinces connected by extensive road networks, Romblon faces additional logistical challenges because its municipalities are spread across several islands.
The planned distribution will therefore require coordination among provincial officials, municipal governments and local personnel responsible for identifying beneficiaries and organizing the delivery of rice supplies.
The use of CBMS data is intended to help direct assistance toward households identified as economically vulnerable.
Under the announced schedule, qualified families will receive their first allocation in October, followed by additional distributions in November and December.
The provincial government has not yet released a complete municipality-by-municipality delivery timetable or the final breakdown of beneficiaries in each locality.
Confirmation of the initial distribution will establish whether the program has begun as scheduled.
For thousands of Romblon households, the three-month assistance program is expected to provide additional food support during the final quarter of the year.