The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has released ₱884,778,900 under its UPLIFT Disaster Assistance Program to support sugarcane farmers and laborers affected by red-striped soft-scale insect (RSSI) infestations in Negros Island as of Monday, Nov. 2.
The Negros-wide financial relief has reached 86,092 beneficiaries—comprising 64,042 farmers and 22,050 agricultural laborers—to help mitigate losses caused by pest damage to sugarcane crops, DSWD Negros Island Region Director Arwin Razo said Wednesday.
Negros Occidental received the largest share of the disaster funding, totaling ₱647,036,775 for 62,667 beneficiaries, of whom 47,940 are farmers and 14,727 laborers.
The amounts released per district in Negro Occidental were:
- District 1: ₱23,726,850 (2,298 farmers)
- District 2: ₱59,028,025 (5,717 farmers)
- District 3: ₱97,901,650 (9,482 beneficiaries: 7,101 farmers, 2,381 laborers)
- District 4: ₱23,530,675 (2,279 farmers)
- District 5: ₱277,401,775 (26,867 beneficiaries: 15,491 farmers, 11,376 laborers)
- District 6: ₱165,447,800 (16,024 beneficiaries: 15,054 farmers, 970 laborers)
Bacolod City received ₱29,116,500 in assistance, serving 2,820 total beneficiaries (1,232 farmers and 1,588 laborers).
NEGROS ORIENTAL
In Negros Oriental, the program disbursed ₱208,625,625 to 20,605 total beneficiaries, consisting of 14,870 farmers and 5,735 farm laborers:
- District 1: ₱101,452,500 (10,020 beneficiaries: 5,594 farmers, 4,426 laborers)
- District 2: ₱80,048,250 (7,906 beneficiaries: 6,597 farmers, 1,309 laborers)
- District 3: ₱27,124,875 (2,679 farmers)
The DSWD UPLIFT program continues to coordinate localized payouts across remaining covered areas in the region to provide immediate economic support to vulnerable sugarcane sector workers, Razo said.*
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