Bigasan sa Parokya in Samar, hits the box office!

By NINFA B. QUIRANTE (PIA Samar)
April 27, 2008

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar  –  Bigasan sa Parokya in poor Samar hits the box office!

Poor parishioners from the Immaculate Concepcion Parish of Motiong and St. James in Talalora are grateful that their parishes have become outlets for the NFA rice.

Fr. Gil Cabujat of Immaculate Concepcion Parish of Motiong said that they are given rice allocation of 10 sacks per week, this easily sells like hotcake, said Fr. Gil.

The priest said that a religious affairs department of Malacañang has given the parish some P15, 000 as capital to procure rice from NFA to be re sold to their poor parishioners. To increase the number of bags bought at NFA, the parish council loaned some P6,000 and now some 16 bags are bought on Tuesdays. Each family is sold three kilos.

Just the news that NFA rice will be sold brings out bigger crowd and before the day ends, all bags are ‘sold out’!

In remote Talalora, Parish priest Fr. Romy Manzanero said, the Bigasan sa Parokya somehow has helped the parishioners of St. James. However, Fr. Romy said that although this is one strategy to help the poor, the government must design concrete programs to address poverty in general. He also suggested that close monitoring should be done to discouraged hoarding and overpricing.

Unverified rumors reaching him say that the bags of cheap rice allotted to some barangays end up in urban Catbalogan where retailers are said to have contacts. The rice, he said end up in the wrong hands.

Fr. Manzanero also shared the feedback, like Fr. Cabujat that some bags of rice when delivered to them weigh less than the supposed weight which is 50 kilos.

As PIA made the representations to NFA about the weight difference, Rosario Cadiz, NFA economist advised that the parokya should write to the NFA manager about their complaint.

On the brighter side, Fr. Gil said that more parishes now have expressed enthusiasm to join the Bigasan sa Parokya, whereas before there were only five interested applicant-parishes, today, Fr. Cesar Aculan of the Calbayog Diocese is being swarmed with additional requests.