DBM: Rice grant helps MUPs in remote locations

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the issued administrative order (AO) 26 or rice assistance to all military and uniformed personnel (MUP) help those stationed in remote provinces and even local farmers.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed the AO 26 on Nov. 7, providing a uniform quantity of 25 kilograms of rice to all active MUP, as of Nov. 30 this year.

“When we learned that having rice assistance is very important to them, especially those stationed in remote provinces and isolated areas, we recommended this to the President,” Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said in a statement on Tuesday.

She added that this will benefit local and participating farmers of the Kadiwa program.

DBM said that the rice grant will be distributed to authorized representatives of MUPs from Dec. 2024 to March 2025 in designated National Food Authority (NFA) warehouses, based on a schedule set by NFA.

“The funding requirement for the grant of the rice assistance shall be charged against the Contingent Fund under the FY (fiscal year) 2024 General Appropriations Act, subject to compliance with relevant laws, rules, and regulations,” she said. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante