ILOILO CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-6 will release an initial P3.75 million in cash aid for small rice retailers in Western Visayas.
"We are fast-tracking the processing of the subsidy so that the micro rice retailers will get the aid as soon as possible,” said DSWD-6 Director Carmelo Nochete.

A MAN purchases rice in a stall in Iloilo City. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-6 will release an initial P3.75 million in cash aid for small rice retailers in Western Visayas. (Tara Yap)
The money will benefit an initial 250 small rice retailers in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental as well as the highly urbanized cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.
The DSWD-6 will identify the beneficiaries based on the profiling conducted by the Department of Agriculture (DA)-6.
Each rice retailer can receive up to P15,000 subsidy, which will be a one-time government aid as the price ceiling is only temporary.
This is part of the government’s program to ease the impact of Executive Order 39 issued by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. imposing a rice price ceiling.