Nong Bonifacio and Danny happily received their SURE Aid Landbank cash card loaded with P15,000 that they can use as additional fund to finance their farming activities.

The Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Credit Policy Council in partnership with the Landbank of the Philippines gives P4.9 million cash assistance to the 332 rice farmers in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur.

The activity is the fulfillment of the Expanded Survival and Recovery Assistance for Rice Farmers (SURE Aid) Program wherein each farmer is given a cash card loaded with P15,000 payable without interest in eight years, inclusive of six months grace period payable semi-annually through over-the-counter in any Landbank branch.

“This is a big help for us farmers. Our incomes went down, but the amount we received is an additional fund for the continued rice production in our area,” said Bonifacio Suay, farmer from Brgy. New Visayas, San Francisco.

Suay added that he never thought that a loan without interest and payable for a long period of time can exist considering that he has encountered borrowing money from other individuals wherein interest rates are high and payable for a short period.

SURE Aid Program is a one-time loan assistance without collateral to eligible farmers whose incomes were affected by the drop in the farm gate price of palay. These farmers should also be farming a hectare and below, and have been included in the DA-validated list.

The P2.5 billion SURE Aid Program is the government’s initial relief response to more than 166,000 rice farmers nationwide. It is hoped that through this intervention, our farmers will remain motivated to produce more rice. (Fretcher Magatao, DA-Caraga)