The San Juan City local government on Friday, Sept. 8, announced the start of the disbursement of financial aid to its rice sellers and retailers affected by the rice price cap mandated by the national government on Sept. 5 amid the  increase of its prices.

San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora will be joined by officials from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) during the distribution of cash aid to rice retailers at the Agora Public Market on Saturday, Sept. 9.

Zamora said aside from the P15,000 financial aid coming from the national government, the city government will also provide P5,000 for its rice retailers as additional aid. They will also be given one month free stalls rental at the said market.

"A total of 48 registered small rice retailers from San Juan City will receive a one-time aid of P15,000 from the national government and P5,000 from the San Juan Local Government Unit in cash to help augment for the losses they will incur during the strict implementation of EO 39, which started last Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023," he explained.

San Juan City will be one of first four LGUs in the country to have its affected rice retailers receive cash assistance from the national government under the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) of the DSWD.

E.O. 39 mandates temporary price caps on regular-milled and well-milled rice to P41.00 per kilogram and P45.00 per kilogram, respectively.

“We are grateful to the National Government led by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., the DTI, DA, and the DSWD for the swift distribution of the cash assistance. This is a big help to our rice sellers especially since they are the ones greatly affected by the rice price ceiling,” the mayor said.

“To our retailers, we are also asking for your understanding and patience during this time. Rest assured that we are doing everything we can to help you in cushioning the impact of EO 39," he added.

The DTI organized the list of beneficiaries collated from the registered retailers of the Agora Market and the Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO) of the city government.

Earlier, Zamora together with Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Don Artes, Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, and other city government officials led an inspection of rice prices at the Agora Market to ensure that sellers and retailers are following the mandated prices of rice.

"We were given a directive to enforce E.O. 39 starting Sept. 5, today. That's why we have spoken to our market master and our retailers to ensure that starting today, the rice being sold here in Agora Public Market is at the prescribed price. We have talked to them and said the president has an executive order about this. All our retailers and sellers are compliant and we made sure of this because we understand the need of our consumers to be able to buy rice at a lower price," Zamora said during the inspection.

He added that those who will be apprehended may be charged under the following laws: RA No. 7581 or “Price Act,” RA No. 10845 or “Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act,” C.O. No. 32, Series of 2008 or “An Ordinance Creating the Local Price Control Coordinating Council.”

First offenders caught violating City Ordinance No. 32, Series of 2008 will be fined P2,000, 2nd offenders will be fined P3,000.00 and third offenders will be fined P5,000.00 and revocation of permit.

During the inspection, the officials said all rice sellers and retailers in Agora Market are compliant with the directive.

Zamora explained the city government has created a Price Control Coordinating Council through C.O. No. 32 to ensure that all rice retailers in the city will follow the president's order.

He noted that the agencies of the national government assured them of adequate supply of rice in the country as the season of harvest will start by the end of this month or by October.

"This means the price control order of the national government is just temporary because by the end of the month until next month, the season of harvest will commence, hence, the rice of supply in the country will change again," the mayor, who is also the Metro Manila Council (MMC) president, said.