Cebu governor suspends P20-per-kilo rice program for poor families

Cebu governor Gwendolyn Garcia on Wednesday ordered the immediate suspension of a program allowing poor families in Cebu province to buy rice products for as low as P20 per kilo, a day after its implementation. 

According to Lloyd Suarez’s report on dzBB’s Super Radyo, the Sugbo Merkadong Barato Program (SBMP) was suspended after its list of beneficiaries ballooned from 199,000 to over 300,000. 

Under the SBMP, local government units in the province are supposed to identify the indigent families that are qualified to avail of the rice products to be sold at pop-up shops including the Kadiwa Store. 

Beneficiaries may purchase up to five kilograms of rice every week. 

Garcia said the provincial government will inspect the list of beneficiaries before the possible resumption of the program next week. 

The Cebu governor also said they are studying the possibility that the Cebu capital will directly import rice from other countries to fill the gaps in the demand for cheap rice products currently being supplied by the National Food Authority (NFA).

The provincial government allocated funding worth P100 million for the program, with the rice supply coming from the NFA. —RF, GMA Integrated News