The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of the Interior and Local Government, and various local government units (LGUs), successfully concluded the first series of its cash assistance distribution to eligible rice retailers affected by the implementation of rice price ceilings in the MIMAROPA Region.

The joint efforts among these agencies resulted in a 100% payout rate to all 1,192 rice retailers who had been profiled and deemed eligible in the MIMAROPA region. This number includes 675 retailers spanning across Occidental Mindoro’s municipalities, 161 retailers covering all of Oriental Mindoro’s municipalities, 19 retailers from five municipalities in Marinduque, 79 retailers in the six municipalities of Romblon, and 258 retailers from 11 municipalities in Palawan.

Under DSWD’s Sustainable Livelihood Program, the one-time cash grant worth P15,000 for each retailer is the government’s temporary relief aid to the businesses affected by the price caps.

Since the enactment of Executive Order No. 39, DTI MIMAROPA’s provincial monitoring teams have been actively conducting assessments in the key trading areas of Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan to observe the price and supply of rice. Moreover, DTI and the Business Permit and Licensing Offices of the different LGUs are responsible for the profiling and validating of retailers to ascertain the assistance or government interventions necessary to alleviate the consequences of the price ceilings. ♦

Date of release: 12 October 2023

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