Some 4.3 million beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) have started receiving this March their rice subsidy of P600 a month.

The rice subsidy is on top of their health and education cash grants.

The total amount disbursed this March pay-out for the rice subsidy allocation is P2,581,114,800.

During his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Rodrigo Roa Duterte directed the DSWD to provide rice subsidy to Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries to help them address their hunger problems.

Following the directive, DSWD formulated a guideline for the provision of the rice subsidy with effectivity starting this January 2017.

DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said, “Only households that are active and compliant with the program conditionalities are entitled to receive the additional P600. Following the guidelines, DSWD has already incorporated the rice subsidy within the regular pay-out schedule of the Pantawid Pamilya.  This means the beneficiaries can expect to regularly receive the rice subsidy along with their health and education grants starting this month.”

The Secretary also explained that the rice subsidy provided covered only the January subsidy allocation since the March pay-out of Pantawid Pamilya covers the grants for the monitoring period December 2016-January 2017.

Sec.  Taguiwalo said that the Government is hopeful that that the additional cash grant will be efficiently used for its intended purpose.

“The President wants that the poor households are able to eat everyday, which is why he initiated the rice subsidy.  For DSWD’s part, we will utilize the conduct of the Family Development Sessions (FDS) to guide the beneficiaries and ensure that they are informed of the relevant provisions of the rice subsidy,” Sec. Taguiwalo said.

The breakdown of the number of Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries receiving the rice subsidy per region is as follows: