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AROUND 60,000 low-income families in Cebu City are expected to receive free rice through a P145-million national government grant secured by the city government.

Mayor Nestor Archival Sr., however, clarified that the program is separate from the national government’s P20-per-kilo subsidized rice initiative, which continues to require beneficiaries to pay for their rice.

He said the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) allocation will allow Cebu City to purchase rice that will be distributed for free to vulnerable households identified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“This is free,” Archival said. “We are going to buy the rice, and we will ask the DSWD to identify the vulnerable families. Those are the ones who will receive it.”

Archival made the clarification amid confusion over whether the new program was part of the government’s “Benteng Bigas” initiative.

He explained that Cebu City’s participation in the P20-per-kilo rice program is limited to assisting in distribution.

The city government does not use its own funds to purchase rice stocks for the subsidized program.

Under the national initiative, the government procures the rice while local government personnel help facilitate packaging, schedules, and the release of rice to qualified beneficiaries such as senior citizens, persons with disabilities, fisherfolk, and other eligible sectors.

Those availing of the subsidized rice pay directly to the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), according to Archival.

Archival said Cebu City has no financial involvement in the subsidized rice program, referring to the city’s role as limited to assisting in distribution.

For the P145-million LGSF-funded program, he said the city government will procure the rice before distributing it to identified beneficiaries.

Archival announced during his first State of the City Address (SOCA) on July 7 that Cebu City secured the LGSF allocation as part of his administration’s food security efforts.

He earlier said the funding could cover the purchase of around 180,000 sacks of 10-kilogram rice.

The mayor also said the Department of Agriculture has expressed willingness to support the construction of a food terminal in Cebu City worth between P300 million and P1 billion, subject to the identification of a suitable location.

Food security was among the priorities outlined by Archival during his first SOCA, along with efforts to secure national government support for projects on agriculture, water supply, flood control, waste management and traffic modernization.

The free rice distribution program will complement the ongoing P20-per-kilo rice initiative, which remains available to qualified beneficiaries through scheduled distributions in participating barangay (villages).

Source : msn