• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The P20 per kilo rice project will be launched in Bacolod City on June 5, with Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. in attendance, Mayor Alfredo Benitez said June 2.
“Everybody is looking forward to this…especially with the inflation that’s causing the high prices of commodities,” Benitez said in a press conference at his office.
He stressed there is need to make sure that inflation does not cause additional burden to residents. “That’s the reason why we should be pushing for the P20/kilo rice program.”
The city’s Budget, Treasurer, and Accountant offices earlier certified that P13.2 million is available for the rice program.
Benitez said that per the National Food Authority, there are around 9,000 sacks of rice in its inventory and the city will be taking all of that.
The DA had said that through the rice project, high-quality rice will be sold at P20 per kilogram by the DA at Kadiwa centers or by local government units in their respective communities.
Initial beneficiaries are indigents, senior citizens, solo parents, persons with disabilities, and members of the 4Ps, or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. Beneficiaries will be allowed to purchase up to 30 kilos of rice per month, the DA said.
The rice will be procured from the NFA at P33 per kilo by the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), the implementing arm of the DA, and will be sold to the LGUs at a subsidized rate of P26.50/kilo.
The concerned LGU will resell the rice to their respective constituents at a subsidized rate of P20/kilo, DA Negros Island Region director Jose Albert Barrogo had said in his letter to Benitez last April.
The subsidy of at least P13 per kilo will be equally shouldered by the FTI and the LGU concerned, he added.
Benitez said at the press conference that the city allocated P8 million to provide high-quality rice at a subsidized rate of P20 per kilo. | CGC
