2 million kilos of rice, P250-M cash aid given to CARD beneficiaries

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said on Friday that the government gave over two million kilograms of rice and P250 million in cash aid to 83,000 beneficiaries of the Cash Assistance and Rice Distribution (CARD) Program in Eastern Visayas.

According to Romualdez, the program will also be implemented in other provinces to be reached by the government.

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“Ang programa pong ito ay masusi nating pinag-aralan para makapagbigay ng ginhawa sa ating mga mamamayan. Buong Pilipinas po ang target natin sa CARD, at isusunod na po natin ang ibang lugar na hindi pa natin napuntahan. Saan man kayo, aabutin kayo ng ating pamahalaan,” Romualdez said.

(This program has been carefully studied to give relief to the people. CARD will target the whole Philippines, and we will line up those locations we have not yet gone to. Wherever you may be, the government will reach out to you.)

The Speaker said that P3,000 were given to the 83,000 beneficiaries, with P1,000 meant for rice, and P2,000 for other miscellaneous expenses.

“Ito na ang pinakamalaking CARD Program distribution simula noong ilunsad natin ito noong nakaraang taon. Makakaasa kayo na mas palalakihin at palalakasin pa natin ang programa para mas maraming Pilipino ang makinabang sa bigas at ayuda mula sa gobyerno,” Romualdez added.

(This is the largest CARD Program distribution since we launched this last year. You can expect that we will enlarge and enrich this program so that more Filipinos can benefit from rice and aid from the government.)

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The CARD program aims to give cash and rice assistance to qualified Filipino families and was launched in 2023 with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair.