BONTOC, Mountain Province –Ninety-one registered fisherfolk in Bontoc recently received their cash assistance today, April 19, 2021, at the Bontoc Municipal Capitol.
Each fisherfolk- beneficiary received P3, 000 cash assistance while the P2, 000 worth of food packs to include half-cavan of rice, two trays of eggs, and three kilograms of chicken were earlier given to them.
This is under the Cash and Food Subsidy for Marginal Farmers and Fisherfolk (CFSMFF) Program of the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource (DA- BFAR) and funded through the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act (Bayanihan 2).
According to Administrative Officer IV Ross Kiat-ong from the Office of the Municipal Agriculturist (OMAg), this program of the government aimed to help fisherfolk who were severely affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He explained that the DA-BFAR Regional Office based the identification and selection of recipients on the Fisherfolk Registry System. Thus, the recipients are the fisherfolk registered in the system except for government employees who are at the same time fisherfolk.
To ensure the protection and safety of the recipients due to COVID-19, and to lessen their financial burden from traveling to Abatan, Buguias, Benguet to receive their cash assistance through the identified pay-out center, the DA-BFAR Regional Office authorized the personnel of the OMAg to claim the cash assistance and disbursed the same to the fisherfolk- beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, Kiat-ong mentioned that the last batch of beneficiaries, comprising 50 farmers are yet to receive their cash assistance of P5, 000. The recipients shall allot P2, 000 from the P5, 000 cash assistance they will receive to purchase goods or food for their families.
Mayor Franklin Odsey thanked the national government through the DA for its continuing assistance to the municipality. He added that the cash and food assistance is of great help to the farmers and fisherfolk who were gravely affected by the pandemic. By Alpine L. Killa