• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has joined other Visayas governors in supporting the P20/kg Rice Program, where the pilot implementation is in the region.
Lacson said it was Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia who brought up the idea of selling rice at P20 per kilo, in support of the campaign promise of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to lower rice prices.
The proposal, according to the governor, that rice will be bought at P31 per kilo by the government from producers, where national and local governments subsidize the amount of P11, for it to be sold at P20 per kilo to identified beneficiaries.
Visayas governors are targeting the last week of April for implementation.
Lacson, however, said it may take for a while, pending the identification of local government units of the sources of funds to be used in the purchase of the subsidized rice.
Lacson said he was assured by Jose Albert Barrogo, officer in charge (OIC) Regional Executive Director of the Department of Agriculture for Negros Island Region, that they will be provided with freshly milled rice if the program is implemented.
With a population of 2,618,672, Negros Occidental consumes 693,300 50kg sacks of rice daily, or 16,639,200 sacks annually, according to records of the Office of the Provincial Agriculture.
Agriculture Sec. Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. earlier said the program would be piloted in several Visayas provinces next week.
The program aims to procure rice in bulk and sell it at P20 per kilo to selected beneficiaries from the marginalized sectors, mainly the indigent sector and those from low-income communities.
Laurel said that under the program, the price difference, which is currently around P13 per kilo, will be shouldered by the national government through the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) and the LGUs.
He added that the national government and the LGUs will shoulder the difference between the market price and the selling price, equally.
“As of now, we are thinking of two templates. One is we can sell a maximum of five kilos per week per family, and another one is 10 kilos per week. So, the maximum that we can sell is 10 kilos per week, so 40 kilos per month per family,” Laurel said.
The budget for the subsidy is estimated to be between P3.5 billion and P4.5 billion, depending on the LGU’s participation and the volume of rice to be sold.
The President has directed the DA to ensure the sustainability of the program until the end of his administration in 2028.*
