Cash aid to rice retailers 'will continue' despite lifting of price cap —DTI

The government will finish the distribution of the P15,000 cash assistance to micro rice retailers affected by the mandated price ceilings on two varieties of the staple crop, according to Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual on Wednesday.  

That's despite President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. already announced the lifting of the rice price cap earlier in the day.

Pascual said the one-time cash aid will be continued until all the funds allocated for the program are exhausted.

“Tatapusin ‘yon (It will be completed),” Pascual said.

For his part, Department of Trade and Industry-Fair Trade and Enforcement Bureau Director Fhillip Sawali also said that the cash assistance program “won’t be affected” by the lifting of EO 39.

Under the Sustainable Livelihood Program-Economic Relief Subsidy (SLP-ERS) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), P217.2 million has been released to 14,480 out of the targeted 19,685 micro and small rice retailers nationwide as of September 29.

“There are 5,738 remaining listed beneficiaries who are set for payout,” Sawali said.

The government started the distribution of the P15,000 cash aid to affected rice retailers on September 9, days after the price caps took effect. 

Executive Order No. 39 imposed a price cap of P41 per kilogram for regular-milled rice and P45 per kilogram for well-milled rice. 

The price ceiling stemmed from the surge in retail prices of rice in local markets. 

Sawali said Pascual and Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban signed a joint memorandum circular, recommending the lifting of the mandated price ceiling.

The recommendation to lift the price cap was based on specific indicators.

"The average selling prices are close to the mandated price ceilings which has an increasing compliance rate, while average farmgate price is maintained at P14 to P23 per kilo," Sawali said.

The President, meanwhile, said there's still a lot to be done to keep rice prices steady.

"So tinatanggal na natin 'yung mga control. Pero hindi ibig sabihin basta't ganoon na lang dahil kailangan pa rin natin ayusin ang agricultural sector," said Marcos.

(So we removed all the control. But it doesn't mean we will leave it at that because we still need to fix the agricultural sector.) —VAL, GMA Integrated News