Bilibid reservation will soon be a rice trading center -- BuCor
Starting this October, the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City will be a rice trading center for areas south of Metro Manila, Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. said on Friday, Sept. 8.
During the Laging Handa Public Briefing, Catapang said: “Next month nga po ilo-launch namin ‘yung Pambansang Bagsakan ng Bigas para sa Mamamayan (Next month we will launch the Pambansang Bagsakan ng Bikas para sa Mamamayan)."
He said the launching is in line with the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the Reformation Initiative for Sustainable Environment for Food Security (RISE) that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Agriculture (DA) signed last July 13.
Under the Pambansang Bagsakan ng Bikas para sa Mamamayan (PBBM), Catapang explained that “ang mga rice producer ng Bulacan, Nieva Ecija pwede po nila dalhin ‘yung produkto nila (rice producers in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija can bring their products here).”
“Ang mangyayri wala na middleman (there will be no more middleman),” he stressed.
The PBBM at NBP "will cater sa buong (entire) Muntinlupa City and areas south of Metro Manila."
During the public briefing, Catapang also said that BuCor had launched a Kadiwa Pop-Store that sells various food and agricultural products at the NBP.
Kadiwa is a “marketing initiative of DA, implemented through the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance (AMAS), which seeks to empower the farming community by providing a direct and effective farm-to-consumer food supply chain.”
Catapang had earlier said that all persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the NBP will be transferred to other BuCor's various penal farms in the country. The NBP reservation will then be converted into a government center and food terminal, he had also said.
“Balang araw ang BuCor hindi na po hihingi ng pera sa gobyerno (One of these days BuCor will no longer ask money from the government),” he said.
“Baka pwede pa magshare kami ng mga kinikita ng BuCor sa darating na panahon (The BuCor may one day share its earnings),” he added.