More sari-sari store owners and micro rice retailers are receiving cash aid from the government as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to distribute the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP)-cash assistance to the sector affected by the rice price ceiling across the country.

The DSWD is conducting simultaneous payouts in the Cagayan Valley Region, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and MIMAROPA Region Monday (October 2) as SLP-cash aid for more than 800 small-scale business owners in the rice trading and selling industry.

Some 116 rice retailers and sari-sari store owners from the different provinces in CAR are expected to receive the SLP-cash assistance while another five micro-rice retailers in Marinduque have qualified for the cash aid.

In separate payouts in the provinces of Batanes and Cagayan, some 680 sari-sari store owners and micro rice retailers received Php 15,000 each to help them cushion the effects of the price rice cap.

The continuous payout of cash assistance is in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian to assist the small business owners, who were experiencing losses due to the implementation of Executive Order No 39 series of 2023.

EO 39 set a price cap of P41 per kilo for regular-milled rice and P45 per kilo for well-milled rice. #