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The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) aims to distribute financial aid and livelihood grants to some 5,942 micro rice retailers by Sept. 14, Secretary Rex Gatchalian said on Tuesday, Sept. 12.
A rice vendor at Paco Market in Manila (Arnold Quizol / Manila Bulletin)
According to him, this was the directive of President Marcos, who issued Executive Order (EO) No. 39, putting a price ceiling of P41 per kilogram for regular milled rice and P45 per kilogram for well-milled rice across the country.
“Gusto ng Pangulo natin na makarating ang livelihood grant sa ating micro rice retailers sa mabilis na panahon (Our president wants livelihood grant to reach our micro rice retailers as soon as possible),” the official stated during a Palace press briefing.
“Kaya nga sabi niya kanina sa amin (That’s why he told us earlier) when we met, ‘Tapusin na kaagad iyang (Finish immediately the) distribution ng (of) livelihood grants to shore up their capital,'” Gatchalian said.
The DSWD has started the distribution of the cash assistance, which can be as much as P15,000, to small and micro rice retailers in Metro Manila last weekend.
The agency is looking at completing it by Thursday, Sept. 14 because of the election ban.
“By September 14, ang goal natin is matapos natin (our goal is to finish) at least all highly urbanized cities and regions,” he added.
On Saturday, retailers from San Juan, Caloocan, and Quezon City received their financial aid, while retailers from Navotas, Parañaque, and Zamboanga del Sur received theirs on Monday.
So far, Gatchalian disclosed that some 474 rice retailers already received livelihood grants, amounting to P7.5 million.
Based on the initial list given to DSWD by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the official said that there are about 5,942 micro and small rice retailers inside public and private markets.
This number refers to small rice retailers with the necessary DTI or Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) registration and business permits.
The cash payouts, which will be given under the DSWD-Sustainable Livelihood Program (DSWD-SLP), hope to alleviate the impact of the price ceiling on micro and small rice retailers.
The program has an appropriation of P6 billion this year, and still has P5.4-billion unobligated funds.
— Raymund Antonio
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
