The provincial government will allocate PHP100 million to purchase National Food Authority (NFA) rice to be sold in all local government units (LGUs) at PHP20 per kg., Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said Thursday.

Garcia announced that the provincial government would launch the Sugbo Merkadong Barato (Cebu cheap market) project in all localities where constituents could buy cheap commodities, including rice.

The amount will be divided equitably among the province’s 51 LGUs, which will be tasked to facilitate the selling to indigent consumers, she said.

The consumers will be pre-identified based on the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s list of indigent constituents of each LGU.

She said another PHP100 million would be earmarked for the purchase of commercial rice to be sold at cheaper rates for the general public, on the condition that they would also purchase other goods and products from the market project.

The market project is patterned after the Kadiwa ng Pangulo project of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. where fresh farm produce and sea harvests could be bought at cheaper prices.

The provincial government is expected to absorb at least a 10 percent loss in the sale of PHP20 per kg. of rice.

”We would be selling rice at a loss if only to give the Cebuanos more spending capacity during this time of high inflation,” Garcia said.

The project, she said, has gained support from the mayors of the 51 component cities and municipalities. (PNA)