The Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) is working closely with the Department
of Agriculture (DA) in the distribution of cash grants to farmer-beneficiaries under the
Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) Program.
In response to concerns raised by the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) on the alleged
delays in the release of the P5,000 subsidies for rice farmers under the Program,
LANDBANK said the non-release of the grants to 90,227 farmers in Regions I, II, III
and VI is primarily due to the DA’s request for LANDBANK to procure Intervention
Monitoring Cards (IMCs) which will be used for the distribution of the cash aid.
“LANDBANK is cognizant of the need for government cash assistance to reach
marginalized Filipinos, especially our farmers. We assure the public that these limited
and precious resources are being managed with utmost prudence, and we will
continue to work closely with the DA for the immediate release of the cash grants,”
said LANDBANK President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo.
From 01-18 August 2022, LANDBANK received from the DA the request for batch
opening of accounts and card production for Region I with 58,103 accounts; Region
II with 27,159 accounts; Region III with 3,978 accounts; and Region VI with 987
accounts.
The state-run Bank said it is now in the process of validating these accounts, and if all
are in compliance with LANDBANK’s requirements, the distribution of 90,227 IMC cards
for Regions I, II, III and VI will start on 07 September 2022.
The RFFA Program is part of the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL),
with the DA as the lead agency, and LANDBANK as the Program’s disbursing arm.
Thus, the Bank is dependent on the submission from the DA of the list of accounts of
farmer-beneficiaries for opening and card production. The list will then be duly
validated by LANDBANK.
