Photo courtesy of BFAR Bicol
More than 22,000 fisherfolk in the Bicol Region received a combined Php 51.8 million in financial assistance under the Presidential Assistance for Farmers and Fisherfolk program.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said the aid was intended to provide immediate relief to fishing families facing higher fuel prices, unpredictable weather and rising operating costs.
BFAR Bicol spokesperson Rowena Briones said beneficiaries underwent several rounds of identification and validation before receiving the assistance.
The initial list was drawn from the Fisherfolk Registration System, Boat Registration System and Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture.
Local government units then verified whether the listed individuals remained qualified before returning the records to BFAR.
The validated names were forwarded to the Department of Agriculture for deduplication to prevent beneficiaries from receiving multiple grants under the same presidential assistance program.
Fisherfolk who had already received aid through other DA programs for rice, corn or similar agricultural activities were excluded from the final list.
Briones said payouts were nearly complete across Bicol, with only the remaining qualified beneficiaries in Sorsogon still awaiting scheduled releases.
