Rice farmers start availing of Rice Financial Assistance

Of the 2.38 million rice farmers tilling two hectares and below targeted to benefit from the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) Program, an initial 44,719 farmers have availed of the P5,000 unconditional cash grant between December 20 and 27 with the highest availment coming from the Cordillera Autonomous Region at 4251 farmers.

Mandated under Republic Act (RA) No 11598, or the Cash Assistance to Filipino Farmers Act of 2021 and overseen by the Department of Agriculture, the program is funded through the excess tariff collection from rice importations in 2022, totaling P12.7 Billion.

As of December 28,  458,435 farmers’ accounts have been credited the cash aid and despite the many bank holidays of the past week, 44,719 farmers have withdrawn their cash, through the efforts of the Development Bank of the Philippines and remittance giant USSC, a BSP-licensed e-money issuer. 

More farmers are expected to avail of their cash assistance in the coming days by going to any of the more than 700 stores of USSC nationwide, or by withdrawing from any BancNet ATM.

Farmers from the Cordillera Autonomous Region, CARAGA, and MIMAROPA were among the first to receive their cash assistance, this is expected to increase in the following days as the letters of instruction from the DA’s regional offices are issued.

Farmers are able to withdraw  cash with their Interventions Monitoring Card (IMC), an innovative product jointly developed by the DA, the DBP, and USSC. 

The card contains both an EMV chip (for secure transactions in ATMs) as well as a unique QR code linked to the individual rice farmer registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA). 

The smallholder rice farmers can use the cash they receive for daily subsistence and personal needs, explained Agriculture Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Leocadio S. Sebastian, as this is an unconditional cash grant provided by law.

“We pride ourselves in making sure our rice farmers get the cash assistance, stipulated by law, in the fastest, most convenient way possible,” said USSC President/CEO Jose Xavier ‘Eckie’ Gonzales. 

USSC used to be RCPI (Radio Communications of the Philippines Inc., a telegraph company founded in 1958) until it was bought out by top management from the Lopezes in 2005 and had since evolved into a remittance and money movement company with its financial technology arm as UMSI.

President Marcos had approved the release of the P12 billion financial package to rice farmers owning 2 hectares and below, saying this would “help them cope with the increasing cost of production and sustain their productivity even in the face of challenges like the coming El Nino.”   The proposed financial assistance of P5,000 per farmer under the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) will benefit about 2.3 million rice farmers tilling 2 hectares and below.