Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the release of the P50 million given by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the farmers and fisherfolk severely affected by the El Niño drought in Negros Occidental will start next week.
The amount was turned over by the president to the governor during his visit to Bacolod City on June 27.
A list of the beneficiaries was provided by the Department of Agriculture, which passed through the Office of the President, he said.
Each recipient will receive P10,000, Lacson said.
“We were only given 30 days to disperse of the funds so my instructions to our agriculture office is to start distributing by next week,” he said.
There is a strict rule that those who have received assistance from other national government sources should not receive a share from the P50 million, he said.
Lacson said he wrote a letter to ask if there are other national government sources of funds that can be tapped to cover the farmers not on the initial list.
Meanwhile, the provincial government will also release its P2,000 each in assistance to the drought affected farmers, Lacson said.*