City waits for guidelines on P20 rice rollout

CEBU, Philippines — Following the announcement to begin the rollout of the ?20 rice among Local Government Units (LGUs), the Cebu City Government has to wait for the guidelines outlining its limitations, said Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia.

It was reported that as Cebu Province is expected to be the first LGU to implement the administration’s ?20-per-kilo rice program, the National Food Authority in Central Visayas (NFA-7) is fully prepared for the rollout across the entire island.

In Cebu City, Garcia admitted that he has yet to receive a proper memorandum and guidelines for its distribution, adding that he just heard about it from news reports. While the LGUs are expected to implement the rollout, Garcia said that he expects Cebu City to be included.

“So I will have to seek clarification where to get the rice, how to sell the rice, who to sell the rice to, where to sell the rice, all these details, I have to find out first,” said Garcia.

“But there should be no reason not to include Cebu City, because Cebu City is an LGU,” he added.

According to Garcia, they will have to determine if there is also enough budget to procure the rice, stressing that they need to receive the guidelines first.

Garcia said that he assumes the project will also have limitations regarding the number of qualified purchasers. In line with this, Garcia has also not discounted the possibility that he may have to issue an executive order.

During the Energized and Connected forum of The FREEMAN, Commission on Elections (Comelec) assistant regional election director Veronico Petalcorin said the ?20-per-kilo rice rollout is not considered vote buying since it is a government project.

“Kung ang gobyerno muhatag og ayuda, the national government, kinsa man imong gikiha nga iya man na nga programa sa national government, gikan man sa ibabaw, wala man sad mulansar atong president,” said Petalcorin.

He further said that it is considered an aid to the people. He added that once there is already a Comelec certification of exemption, then the program is already being guided.

Previously, NFA-7 acting regional information officer Olma Marie Nedia said they have already prepared the rice stocks to be released to the LGUs in Cebu Province, as the selling of the ?20-per-kilo rice is set to begin on May 1, 2025.

She said that there are currently 11,000 bags of rice stored in their warehouse, ready for distribution. Meanwhile, the NFA branch offices in Negros Oriental and Bohol also have their own stock allocations, Nedia added.

During a recent press conference in Cebu, Visayas governors headed by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia announced that although the original plan was to distribute the rice within the Visayas, it has been decided to implement the distribution nationwide.

This decision followed a meeting between the Visayas governors and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the Cebu Provincial Capitol last week. However, in a recent statement by the Department of Agriculture, they reiterated that the rollout will begin in the Visayas and eventually be introduced nationwide. — (FREEMAN)