Cebu City to distribute free rice to 60K families

Local

CEBU City will distribute free rice to around 60,000 poor families through a ₱145-million national government grant.

Mayor Nestor Archival Sr. earlier this week clarified that the program is entirely separate from the government's ₱20-per-kilo subsidized rice initiative.

Archival said the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) allocation will allow the city government to purchase rice that will be given at no cost to vulnerable households identified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The clarification comes amid confusion over whether the new program is an expansion of the city's participation in the national government's "Benteng Bigas" initiative.

"No, this is different," Archival explained in an interview.

He said the ₱20-per-kilo rice program remains a national government initiative where beneficiaries still pay for the rice, while Cebu City's role is limited to assisting in the distribution.

The city government does not spend its own funds to procure rice under the subsidized rice program, he said.

Archival explained that the national government purchases the rice while local government personnel help package the stocks, coordinate schedules, and inform qualified beneficiaries, including senior citizens, persons with disabilities, fisherfolk, and other eligible sectors, when and where to claim their allocations.

Those purchasing the subsidized rice pay directly to the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), he added.

"Wala tay labot," Archival said, stressing that the city merely facilitates the distribution.

In contrast, the mayor said the ₱145-million LGSF grant will be downloaded to Cebu City, allowing the local government to procure rice itself before distributing it free of charge.

"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."

Based on the city's initial estimates, around 60,000 families are expected to benefit from the program.

During his first State of the City Address on July 7, Archival announced that the city had secured the ₱145-million Local Government Support Fund grant as part of his administration's food security agenda.

He earlier said the allocation could finance the purchase of approximately 180,000 sacks of 10-kilogram rice for distribution to poor households.

The mayor also disclosed that the Department of Agriculture had expressed willingness to fund the construction of a food terminal worth between ₱300 million and ₱1 billion, subject to the city's identification of a suitable site.

Food security figured prominently in Archival's inaugural SOCA, where he outlined plans to pursue more national government funding for major projects, including agriculture, water supply, flood control, waste management, and traffic modernization.

The free rice distribution program is expected to complement, rather than replace, the continuing rollout of the national government's ₱20-per-kilo rice initiative in Cebu City, which remains available to qualified beneficiaries through scheduled distributions in participating barangays.(TGP)