 |
| Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Undersecretary Camilo Gudmalin answers questions during a media interview. PNA Photo by PNA photo by Christine Cudis |
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is
currently making an approach to prepare to the shift from cash to rice
allocation for more than 4 million Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)
beneficiaries.
According to DSWD Undersecretary for Special Concerns Camilo
Gudmalin, they need about 360,000 bags of 50 kilograms of rice per month
for pilot-testing distribution in selected regions.
“To preclude comparison among beneficiaries, we plan to
cover the whole region to these listed provinces. There are about a million 4Ps
beneficiaries in these six regions. With a 90-percent compliance rate, about
360,000 bags of 50 kilograms will be needed per month,” Gudmalin said
Senator Cynthia Villar, who authored the amendment of the
General Appropriations Act of 2019, said the provinces which will pilot test
the rice distribution are Cagayan and Isabela, Ilocos Norte, Tarlac and Nueva
Ecija, Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Iloilo, and Zamboanga del Sur.
The lady senator proposed the amendment to ease difficulties
of the local farmers in transition to the rice tariffication.
In a separate interview according to the Philippine News
Agency, Villar said the pilot testing will take place from November to December
this year – which will run again in 2020, depending on the success rate.
Gudmalin said that the success rate indicator would be for
the palay prices to go back to normal and if there no grievances from the 4P
beneficiaries.
He said that while giving cash is obviously a good option, a
more urgent matter is needed to be addressed.
Gudmalin added that the beneficiaries have no qualms about
the shift from cash to rice as long as “the distribution outlets are near to
them”.
“It is easy to distribute and easy to collect. In-kind
distribution is difficult to distribute and time-consuming and tedious to
collect. However, we need to help local palay farmers. If the government will
not buy palay, the farmers will be at the mercy of rice traders,” he explained.
0 Comments