After only a day, sale of P20/kg rice in Cebu suspended by DA
CEBU CITY—Long lines of people wanting to buy rice at P20 per kilogram outside the Cebu Capitol on Friday are gone.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) suspended the sale of cheaper rice in Cebu, just a day after it was launched, following a warning from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
According to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., they would comply with the poll body’s advisory that the P20-per-kilogram rice could only be sold during the launching on Thursday and would resume after the May 12 elections.
“[May 2] hanggang May 12 ‘di pwede magbenta. May sinabi si Comelec chair sa position niya. Of course, we have different opinions. To be on the safe side syempre ayaw ko din makasuhan,” said Laurel following Thursday’s launching.
(Selling rice at P20 per kilogram is not allowed from May 2 until May 12. The Comelec chair had said his position. Of course we have different opinions. To be on the safe side, we will stop because I also don’t want to get sued).
Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia, in a press conference in Bacolod City on Thursday, warned that the sale of rice at P20 per kilogram was among the forms of “ayuda” or assistance that was prohibited leading to the May 12 elections.
The 10-day ban on all forms of assistance started on May 2.
The selling of rice at P20 per kilogram, Garcia said, could resume on May 13.
‘Self-suspend’
While Comelec gave the DA permission to sell rice at P20 a kilo, he said it would be good if the department “self-suspends” the sale of cheaper rice so it is not marred by suspicion that it is being used for politics.
Garcia also pointed out that the P20 a kilogram is partly subsidized by local governments that contributed P6.50 per kilo, which is considered “ayuda” and thus required Comelec exemption.
Comelec ruling, he said, prohibited all “ayuda” from May 2 to May 12 in whatever form, so it would not be used by politicians to their advantage.
If the local government insists on the distribution of ayuda and the sale of rice, it will be considered an election offense, Garcia said.
For Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, the sale of rice at P20 per kilo is not a form of aid since it was not given for free and only sold at a low price.
Exemption
Gov. Garcia said they would continue selling rice through the Capitol’s “Sugbo Merkadong Barato” (Cebu’s cheap marketplace) program as there is strong public demand for affordable rice.
“I know there is a great clamor from the people. I really read the exemption as published in the [Philippine Daily]Inquirer that the sale of rice at P20 per kilo is exempted with certain provisions,” she said.
“First of all, it should be done in a public place. Second, it is sold. It’s not given. Giving rice as a form of assistance is different. What we’re doing is people are going to buy rice at P20. Third, it should not be done in the presence of political candidates. And fourth, the local government should get an exemption,” she added.
Gov. Garcia said she has asked for a clarification from Chair Garcia himself.
“He said those are conditions but since Cebu has an existing “Sugbo Merkadong Barato” … we did ask for an exemption,” she said.
The “Sugbo Merkado Barato” program sells rice and other goods at cheaper prices. There are now about 50 such stores across the province.
“We are also helping the farmers sell their own products in every town and every city in the entire province of Cebu. And that is why I got it from the chairman himself that for the province of Cebu, this program can go on,” the governor said.
