Rollout of Cebu City’s cheap rice program gets green light

Local

AFTER weeks of delays and heated debate, Cebu City residents may finally get a shot at buying rice for P20 per kilo.

This is after the City Council on Wednesday, September 10, approved a resolution allowing Mayor Nestor D. Archival to sign a memorandum of agreement with Food Terminal Inc. (FTI).

The vote, however, revealed deep divisions: seven councilors voted in favor, six opposed, and one abstained.

Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who led the opposition, warned that the program’s safeguards remain insufficient.

“Until the proponent can come up with an intelligent system safeguarding the resources of the city, I move to oppose the resolution,” Osmeña said.

The P20-rice initiative is part of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Kadiwa ng Pangulo program, aimed at making staple food more affordable for vulnerable sectors.

FTI, a Department of Agriculture–attached corporation, will supply well-milled National Food Authority rice purchased at P33 per kilo and sold to eligible residents at P20 per kilo.

The P13 subsidy per kilo will be shared between the national and local government. Beneficiaries include indigent households, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents, disaster victims, and indigenous peoples.

It marked the fourth attempt to approve the program this month. Previous deferments, on August 12, August 19, and August 28, were prompted by technical gaps in the MOA, such as missing annexes, unclear timelines, and vague specifications on rice quality and quantity.

“I’m not against people buying P20 rice, but how are we going to do this? Are we just going to open in any amount? And who else is going to buy?” Osmeña asked during an earlier session. “It’s like giving out a credit card with no limit… I don’t think it is a good fiscal process."(TGP)