Tacloban city: Some 10,000 minimum wage earners in Eastern Visayas have benefited from the Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na program since its launch four months ago, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported. Of the total recipients, 7,000 are employed in Leyte province, while 1,500 each are from Eastern Samar and Northern Samar.
According to Philippines News Agency, DOLE Assistant Regional Director Joan Noya-Nidua stated that the program aims to provide affordable rice to low-income workers, offering relief amid increasing costs of food and transportation. “For every kilo of rice bought, there is a message of hope and our desire for our workers to have enough food on the table and that no one will go hungry,” Nidua remarked during an interview.
The initiative is a collaboration between DOLE, the Department of Agriculture-Food Terminal Inc. (DA-FTI), and various employers and cooperatives in the region. Under the program, DA-FTI procures rice from the National Food Authority (NFA) at PHP33/kg and provides a PHP13/kg subsidy. The rice is then repacked by DOLE into 10-kilogram bags for distribution to workers.
“This initiative is not just about selling rice,” Nidua added. “It reflects our goal to ease the burden of workers by ensuring they can take home affordable and quality rice for their families.” The distribution is conducted in partnership with the Energy Development Corporation in Kananga, Leyte, which supports 2,000 workers, and the Leyte Industrial Development Estate Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Isabel, Leyte, which also serves 2,000 workers.
Other partners include the Eastern Samar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. in Borongan City, assisting 1,500 laborers, and the Northern Samar Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Catarman town with 1,500 workers. The most recent distribution, conducted on Wednesday, was in partnership with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tacloban City and Leyte chapter, benefiting some 3,000 minimum wage earners.
Unlike beneficiaries of the Department of Agriculture’s Kadiwa ng Pangulo program, who access subsidized rice through public distribution sites, workers under the BBM Na! program receive rice directly through their respective employers and cooperatives.