Bacolod: The Negros Occidental provincial government has secured a PHP170.999 million rice supply for distribution to impoverished and near-impoverished households. This initiative is funded by the Local Government Support Fund-Financial Assistance (LGSF-FA) granted by the national government.

According to Philippines News Agency, recent data indicates that the procurement includes 251,470 sacks of 10-kilogram rice intended for 125,735 beneficiary households across all 19 municipalities and 12 cities in the province. This effort is part of the Assistance to Indigent Individuals or Families-Food Assistance Rice Distribution Project.

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II announced via Facebook that the bidding process for the rice assistance from the Office of the President has been completed. The distribution plan specifies that each beneficiary household will receive a 10-kilogram rice allocation for both the third and fourth quarters of 2026.

Diaz elaborated that the beneficiary list was derived from the Philippine Statistics Authority's Community-Based Monitoring System. This ensures that all cities and municipalities receive a fair share of the rice, contingent upon the submission of preferred distribution schedules by their respective mayors.

To streamline efforts, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has requested mayors to provide lists of constituents already receiving government rice assistance. This step aims to prevent redundancy in the distribution process.

"We will need the list of beneficiaries who already received rice subsidies using their own LGSF-FA for Food Assistance to avoid duplication of beneficiaries," Diaz emphasized.