Lubao: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday oversaw the distribution of government assistance during his visit to the Pampanga Food Security Complex (PFSC) in Lubao, Pampanga.
According to Philippines News Agency, Marcos inspected the newly completed PFSC, accompanied by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., former president and Pampanga Second District Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda. The PHP465.76-million PFSC is designed as a one-stop postharvest service center, providing farmer accreditation, palay procurement and receiving services, drying, milling, storage, inventory management, packaging, and distribution.
The integrated rice processing facility is expected to benefit around 30,995 rice farmers cultivating 42,994 hectares of rice-producing land across Pampanga. It has a projected annual output of 136,800 bags of dry palay and 78,000 bags of milled rice, with each bag weighing 50 kilos. The facility features two warehouses with a combined floor area of 5,000 square meters, with Warehouse 1 capable of storing up to 83,000 bags of milled rice and Warehouse 2 holding 45,000 bags of dry palay.
The drying facility includes six 6-ton mechanical dryers and two 12-ton mechanical dryers, capable of drying up to 1,200 bags of palay daily. A 5,000-square-meter drying pavement can accommodate approximately 1,400 bags of wet palay, while the rice mill has a processing capacity of four to five tons per hour, with an estimated milling recovery rate of 65 percent.
Tiu Laurel highlighted the strategic location of the food security complex, emphasizing its importance for the country's food security. He noted that the facility simplifies postharvest operations for farmers, improves efficiency, and enhances food safety. 'More or less, we're more ready than ever this harvest season,' Tiu Laurel stated, expressing confidence in the facility's ability to strengthen the government's palay procurement and postharvest operations ahead of the September harvest.
To further expand the facility's capacity, around PHP240 million has been allocated under the General Appropriations Act and through the efforts of Arroyo for the construction of two additional warehouses. Once completed, these new warehouses will accommodate an additional 112,500 bags of milled rice and 75,000 bags of palay, significantly enhancing the PFSC's storage capacity and the province's food security efforts.
During the visit, Marcos also led the distribution of PHP17.7 million in Sustainable Livelihood Program assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to 21 SLP associations representing 630 members. Each association received grants ranging from PHP600,000 to PHP900,000, while individual farmers received PHP3,000 each under the DSWD's Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations program. Marcos also engaged with representatives of 11 farmers' cooperatives and associations, whose members are among the beneficiaries of Pampanga's palay procurement program and the PFSC's post-harvest services.
