CEBU Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has directed localities across the province to begin selling subsidized rice at P20 per kilo on Monday, April 28, 2025.
Garcia announced the directive following a meeting with Cebu mayors on Friday, April 25.
She informed them of the availability of over 20,000 bags of rice at the Capitol’s warehouse and urged each local chief executive to withdraw their allocation.
The subsidized rice program is an initiative launched by the Department of Agriculture (DA), as mandated by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The rice will be distributed to various localities and sold through the existing Sugbo Merkadong Barato (SMB) facilities.
About 300,000 beneficiaries are initially targeted in Cebu, with plans to increase the number.
Sacks of rice will be distributed equally among local government units (LGUs) in proportion to their number of beneficiaries.
Each beneficiary, primarily frontliners such as barangay health workers, daycare workers, tanods, government employees, teachers, farmers, and fisherfolk, is allocated 10 kilos of rice per week.
Based on the Capitol’s computation, Cebu will need about 60,000 sacks of rice weekly, or 240,000 per month.
Each town must withdraw its monthly allocation proportionally. Each sack contains 50 kilos of rice.
Garcia said beneficiaries must use issued QR-coded cards to avail of the program, though cash payments will be temporarily accepted during the first round. New cards will be issued for additional beneficiaries.
The DA secretary announced on Wednesday, April 23, that the subsidized program will run until December 2025.
The DA and LGUs will jointly shoulder the P13 gap per kilo (rice is procured at P33 and sold at P20).
Garcia added that starting next year, the national government will subsidize the program alone, with the budget included in the annual national budget.
She assured the program’s continuation until 2028, citing Marcos’ promise of sustainability.
Garcia recalled that the pilot program for the Visayas region was inspired by the Capitol’s SMB program.
In November 2023, the Cebu Provincial Government launched SMB which sold “cheap rice” at P20 per kilo to selected beneficiaries at different localities. However, the inconsistent supply of NFA rice hindered the program’s continuation.
Garcia said she shared the concept to Marcos over a lunch meeting on April 11, where he saw the feasibility of national-level implementation and contacted the DA to commence the program starting from the Visayas region.
She emphasized the program aims to help vulnerable sectors struggling with high market rice prices. / EHP