Bacoor City residents grateful for PBBM’s affordable rice program

BACOOR CITY, Cavite — Beneficiaries of the ‘Benteng Bigas Meron Na’ program in Bacoor City, Cavite have expressed their gratitude to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for his administration’s efforts in fulfilling one of his campaign promises of making rice affordable for Filipinos.

A total of 2,500 beneficiaries from vulnerable sectors, including senior citizens, solo parents, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), lined up at the Kadiwa ng Pangulo outlet at the Zapote Public Market on Wednesday (July 2) to purchase the affordable rice.

 One of the senior citizen beneficiaries, Rodolfo Barlis, thanked President Marcos Jr. for making the program possible and praised the government’s efforts in helping poor families.

“Before, I could only buy 3 kilos of regular rice at P38 per kilo, but now I can buy 10 kilos for only P20 per kilo. The benteng bigas is a great help to us; this is a blessing for those of us living below the poverty line,” Barlis said.

 “I can’t thank the President enough for proving that he can implement benteng bigas successfully. This is a good initiative to reduce poverty here in Cavite,” he added.

 A 78-year-old beneficiary from Barangay Zapote II, Bedelia Andalajao, shared how the initiative benefits her family.

 “There are two of us in the family. Before, we bought P40-per-kilo rice from the market, but I’m grateful to line up here because I can save money. For 10 kilos, I only need to pay P200,” Andalajao said.

 “With this affordable rice, I have extra money to buy a dish and serve it at our table. This is really a great project of President Marcos,” she added.

Another beneficiary, Rosita Grado, 69, from Bacoor, expressed hope that the government will sustain the initiative.

 “This P20 rice project is good. I can buy 5 kilos for only P100. I hope President Marcos will continue this program. Affordable rice is very important to us. His administration is doing a great job,” Grado said.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) emphasized that 500 sacks of rice were prepared during the program and that residents can wait for further schedules to be announced by the city government of Bacoor.

The agriculture department added that members of the vulnerable sector could soon purchase the affordable rice up to 30 kilos in a month.

This initiative is part of the expansion of the “Benteng Bigas Meron Na” program, which is a fulfillment of the the Marcos Jr. administration’s promise of a “Masaganang Bagong Pilipinas.”