The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has completed the payout of PHP20.57 million for the 2,289 beneficiaries of the Risk Resiliency Program (RRP) in Antique.

The payout covered expansion sites in the five municipalities of the province, according to Armil Gayorgor, DSWD Project Development Officer II and RRP in-charge in the form of the Local Adaptation to Water Access and Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished, in an interview Tuesday.

The payout consisted of PHP2.7 million for 301 beneficiaries in Barbaza, PHP1.57 million for 175 beneficiaries in Sebaste, PHP2.95 million for 328 beneficiaries in Valderrama, PHP6.6 million for 734 beneficiaries in San Remigio, and PHP6.75 million for 751 beneficiaries in Sibalom.

The beneficiaries were paid PHP450 daily for 20 days.

San Remigio Mayor Margarito Mission, Jr. said that they are fortunate to be included in the expansion of the RRP that started in May.

“We are fortunate that our hometown is a recipient of the RRP because the people were able to grow tilapia and have a water source for their agricultural crops,” he said.

The RRP was first implemented in the province of Antique in the towns of Sebaste, Barbaza, and Sibalom, with the addition of two municipalities when it expanded in 2023 to help ensure food sufficiency and in preparation for the El Niño phenomenon. (PNA)