The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has successfully distributed rice to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Tawi-Tawi and Sulu provinces, part of the Marcos administration’s continuing efforts to ensure sufficient food supply among poor households as they cope with rising prices.

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, who led the distribution with Special Assistant to the President Anton Lagdameo on Monday, thanked local officials in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) for their warm reception.

The distribution activities were facilitated by Tawi-Tawi Governor Ysmael Sali and Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan.

“Thank you, Gov. (Ysmael) Sali of Tawi-Tawi, and Gov. (Abdusakur) Tan of Sulu for the warm reception,” Gatchalian said in his Facebook post on Tuesday.

Each 4Ps beneficiary received a 25-kg. sack of premium Jasmine rice, among the rice confiscated by the Bureau of Customs – Zamboanga last May and donated to the DSWD upon orders from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

Gatchalian and Lagdameo were accompanied by DSWD Undersecretaries Eduardo Punay, Monina Josefina Romualdez and Allan Tanjusay; Assistant Secretary Florentino Loyola Jr. and DSWD – Zamboanga Peninsula Assistant Director Ma. Socorro Macaso.

The DSWD team’s first stop was in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, followed by the rice distribution in Jolo, Sulu.

Later in the day, the DSWD’s Field Office-9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) distributed rice to residents of Lamitan City in Basilan province, assisted by Governor Jim Hataman, Mayor Roderick Furigay, Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer Anwary Akalun and DSWD-9 representative Ma. Corazon Sumicad. (PNA)