More than 28,000 families in Apayao province have received in the last three months free rice that the government had bought from local farmers.

Gov. Elias Bulut Jr., in a phone interview on Thursday, said the 28,000 eligible households in the province were given a total of 40 kilos of rice at 10 kilograms per quarter under the national government’s Local Government Support Fund (LGSF).

The local government bought the rice from local farmers using the PHP93.417 million downloaded to them by the national government. The rice distribution began in May and was completed this month.

“We thank the national government for the assistance to the municipal governments because they did not just give food but also allowed the farmers to sell their rice at a good price to the government,” Bulut said.

Apayao is a rice-producing province in the Cordillera, alongside Kalinga.

He said in some towns, local government units added canned goods and instant noodles in the food backs they distributed.

“I appreciate that effort. They did not import rice from other areas but used the local rice production of their farmers which returned to them in the form of government food assistance,” he said.

“I like the initiatives and innovations done by the local governments because they are also looking at other possible assistance to extend while complying with the requirements set by the national government for the program,” the governor added.

Ruperto Maribbay, assistant regional director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, in an earlier interview said the LGSF program of the national government is aimed at assisting the local government units provide basic needs like food to their constituents.

“We monitor the implementation of the program as instructed and we are glad that our local governments are complying with the requirements,” he added. (PNA)