Government payout for profiled and qualified micro rice retailers in Negros Oriental continued on October 5, despite the lifting of Executive Order 39 (EO 39) mandating a price cap on the staple.

Krystle Jade Bato, information officer of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Negros Oriental, said the last batch of qualified beneficiaries to the Emergency Relief Subsidy received their P15,000 cash assistance each last week.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development distributed assistance under the agency’s Sustainable Livelihood Program to 30 beneficiaries on October 4, and 28 others on October 5, Bato said.

“They could not come for distribution to more than 400 micro rice retailers as many of them are living in far-away places in the province but they were profiled during the effectivity of the rice price cap,” Bato said.

She clarified that this would be the last payout of the government cash assistance in the province after President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. announced the lifting of EO 39 on October 4.

A total of P8.040 million has been given out to 526 micro rice retailers for the last three batches.

Meanwhile, the DTI is monitoring rice prices following the lifting of the price cap, provincial DTI head Nimfa Virtucio said .

She said they are still awaiting guidelines from higher authorities but confident that the prices of rice will now remain at a relatively low level considering importation arrivals and the wholesalers are still selling the staple at lower costs. (PNA)