SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Some 300 qualified workers were among the first wave of beneficiaries of the “Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na” program launched by the Department of Labor and Employment.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairman and administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño recalled that when President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. appointed him to lead the agency, he was asked to “take care of Subic Bay workers.”
“Here in Subic Bay, we regard our workers as the bloodline of our economy, and I’m glad that this program would greatly help the minimum wage earners here,” Aliño said.
The BBM program, in coordination with the SBMA labor department, was launched on Sept. 4 at Cresc Inc. in the Moonbay Marina, Central Business District here.
SBMA labor department manager and OIC-deputy administrator for legal affairs Atty. Melvin Varias, said that the DOLE-led program aims to bring ₱20-per-kilo rice to the workforce of the freeport.
Varias added that the program here, spearheaded by DOLE chief labor and employment officer Reynante Lugtu, is a flagship program of the president to stabilize rice prices and make basic goods more accessible.
Kazutomo Murata, Cresc Inc. president, thanked DOLE and SBMA for being chosen as among the first company to benefit from the program. “Marami yan! Ako rin [pahingi]! I am glad that you have President Marcos who loves you. We don’t have this in Japan.”
Meanwhile, Aliño added that aside from the government programs, the agency has three projects that would benefit the workers, namely: dormitories, to bring workers closer to their place of work; development of the mini golf course into a park, to provide a place for unwinding; and the e-bus, which the agency is working on at least a very minimal fare, if not free.
The beneficiary workers were given a maximum of 10 kilos each, and will be paid through salary deduction by the Cresc Inc. administration.
Cresc Inc. is a leading consumable printer ink manufacturer based in Japan. The company is the second company in the Subic Freeport in the printer refilling trade. SBMA-PR
