Gov’t wants to beat election ban on public fund disbursement
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said the price ceiling he imposed on rice was “going as well as we can expect” as the government pushed to distribute all cash aid to small rice retailers affected by the move by Sept. 14.
The administration will also seek an exemption from poll authorities in case it doesn’t finish before Sept. 15, when an election ban on the disbursement of public funds for social services begins.
A Commission on Election (Comelec) resolution prohibits the release, disbursement, or expenditure of public funds for social services from Sept. 15 to Oct. 30 ahead of the barangay and youth elections.
Mr. Marcos noted that retailers have slowly adjusted to the price cap, even if some of them temporarily stopped selling the staple grain to avoid potential losses of up to P40,000 weekly, according to industry estimates.
“We just had a meeting about that this morning, so far the implementation and enforcement is going as well as we can expect,” the President said in a chance interview.
“Of course, some retailers are wary of the measure, and we can’t blame them because they are unsure of the aid we promised. We’ll see how it goes,” he added.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said they would try to finish distributing the cash aid to rice retailers affected by the government-mandated price caps on regular and well-milled rice before the ban takes effect but has sought an exemption from the Comelec if it misses the deadline.
“The President instructed us to finish this at the soonest possible time. He likes the idea of finishing it by the 14th, but there might be unforeseen circumstances that will cause some delay,” Gatchalian said during a Palace briefing.
He added that cash distribution would be targeted in all highly urbanized cities and regions before the imposed deadline and would resume distribution to areas where beneficiaries failed to receive assistance.
“We have to stop by the 15th, so by Sept. 14, our goal is to finish at least all highly urbanized cities and regions. But we did file for an exemption, and we are hopeful that we can get one just in case there’s a spillover,” Gatchalian said in a mix of English and Filipino.
He said there was enough funding to help rice retailers across the country, under the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), a regular program of DSWD.
Gatchalian said there was about P5.4 billion available under the program, and lawmakers have also pledged an additional funding of P2 billion.
As of Sept. 11, the DSWD has already disbursed around P7.5 million worth of assistance to a total of 502 beneficiaries from San Juan City, Caloocan City, Quezon City, Parañaque City, Navotas City, and Zamboanga del Sur, with each reseller getting a one-time cash assistance of P15,000.
In other developments:
• Marikina City Rep. Stella Quimbo said the government should impose a zero tariff on imported rice as a price ceiling won’t be effective in the long run. The Department of Finance earlier proposed cutting the tariffs on imported rice from 35 percent to zero or 10 percent at most. Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said this proposal would bring down the price of imported rice by as much as P6 per kilo.
• Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga lauded President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez for their efforts in driving down the cost of rice.