DA’s P20 rice project exempted from Comelec’s poll spending ban

WALL OF RICE. Workers stack up 47,000 sacks of rice, each measuring 50 kilos at the Baguio warehouse of the National Food Authority (NFA). According to Cecilia Concubierta , NFA Benguet manager, the stock is sufficient to feed people up to the first quarter of 2014. Benguet’s 860,000 residents buy 4,370 sacks of rice each day. EV ESPIRITU/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has exempted the P20 rice project of the Department of Agriculture (DA) from the poll spending ban, but under certain conditions.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Laurel Tiu announced Wednesday that the agency will start selling rice at P20 per kilo in the Visayas region, piloted in Regions 6, 7, and 8 next week.

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The memorandum, dated Thursday and shared with the media on Friday, noted that Tiu requested the exemption of the rice project worth P5 billion from the provision of Section 261 (v) of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC), which prohibits the disbursement of public funds 45 days before the elections.

The Comelec granted the request, under certain conditions:

• The exemption is prospective in application
• It shall not in any manner influence the conduct of the 12 May 2025 National and Local Elections
• It shall not involve any distribution of ayuda, TUPAD [Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers], AKAP [Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program], AICS [Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations], and 4Ps [Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program] from 02 May 2025 (Friday) to 12 May 2025 (Monday), medical and burial assistance, which are normally given to qualified individuals
• Elective officials and/or candidates/aspirants shall not be present during the distribution of Ayuda, TUPAD, AKAP, AICS, and 4Ps in whatever nature of form
• The requesting party, including its personnel and partners, shall strictly and faithfully observe the guidelines submitted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and other relevant agencies
• The requesting party shall undertake to submit a periodic written report of the disbursement made pursuant to his grant of exemption on the Office of the Regional Election Director concerned
• The issuance of a Certificate of Exemption shall not preclude the COMELEC from investigating and prosecuting any violation of Section 261 (o) of the OEC.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia also included three additional conditions to promote transparency: (1) the selling of the P20 rice shall be done in public places; (2) media, civil society organizations, and interest groups must be given unrestricted access in the selling; and (3) local government units (LGU) that will avail the rice project shall request exemption from the Comelec.

Garcia noted that the exemption given to the DA and National Food Authority does not automatically apply to the LGUs. He said that as the DA sells the rice to LGUs at P33, the LGUs will subsidize the P13 and therefore they should request for exemption as the DA and NFA only applied for the exemption of P20 rice project.

“Dalawang exemption po ang kailangan dito, sa LGU at sa DA. Gusto naming malaman kung saan kukuhanin ng LGU ‘yung pondo. Kasi kung wala palang nakaallocate sa budget nila sa 2025, so saan nila kukuhanin?” Garcia told reporters in an interview.

(There needs to be two exemptions here, from the LGU and DA. We want to know where the LGU will get their funds. Because if they don’t have an allocated budget in 2025, where will they get their funds?)

Garcia maintained that no politicians, and candidates and their kin must be present in the selling of the P20 rice project and other exempted social programs.

He also reiterated that the P20 rice project is not allowed from May 2 to May 12, as well as other forms of ayuda or cash aid distribution.

Comelec previously exempted several social programs of the DSWD, including Akap, TUPAD, AKAP, and AICS from the poll spending ban.