BACOLOD CITY – The city government is allocating P13.2 million to support the P20 per kilo rice program of the national government.
Lawyer Marty Go, Secretary to the Mayor, explained that this budget was supposed to be used for the P33 per kilo rice program initiative of this city to be sold through cooperatives.
This amount is equivalent to 8,000 bags of rice from the National Food Authority (NFA) under the “Katuwang sa Diwa at Gawa para sa Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita” (Kadiwa) program.
However, the Department of Agriculture (DA) recently offered the city the P20 per kilo rice program, following a meeting with DA-Negros Island Region (NIR) Regional Director Jose Albert Barrogo.
Go said that they have informed Mayor Albee Benitez about this. Due to the DA’s rice project being offered to the city, the earlier plan may no longer proceed as the purchase order is still being processed and the price of rice is higher than that of the P20-per-kilo rice program.
Under the P20 per kilo rice program, the DA, through the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), a government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC), will procure rice from the NFA and sell it at P33 per kilo.
The FTI will then sell it to the city government at P26.50 per kilo and the local government will sell it to the public for P20, according to Go.
Go said that the FTI and the city government will equally subsidize the rice offered to the public at a lower price.
He added that they are in the process of obtaining a purchase order and applying for a certificate of exemption from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The city expects Comelec to release an exemption certificate within the first or second week of May before the May 12 midterm elections.
Go said that they initially discussed setting it up in public markets but there is also another suggestion to directly course it through to the barangays for easy distribution.
He said they will wait for the proper guidelines to prevent the public from hoarding the rice. “It’s premature to say how it would be distributed," he added.
Go said that this program will prioritize senior citizens and indigents.
He said that the NFA assured them that the available rice in the warehouse are less than three-months-old and are ready for release anytime.