The Department of Trade and Industry on Wednesday clarified that not all rice retailers will get the P15,000 financial aid from the government during the implementation of Executive Order 39 which puts a price cap on regular-milled rice at P41 per kilo and well-milled rice at P45 a kilo.

"Our primary mission for now is information dissemination, monitoring, and validation of the list of retailers. Roughly 25,000 retailers in Metro Manila will be eligible for the P15,000 from the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development). That's our focus at the moment since the EO is relatively new. We understand the contentions of the public and stakeholders to its effect," said DTI Assistant Secretary Agaton Uvero during yesterday's Laging Handa Public Briefing.

He said the government will ensure that all legitimate retailers will receive the much-needed P15,000 aid.

"The list will undergo a verification or validation process by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior and Local Government. Those retailers that incur losses will be the target of the financial help. We are targeting the rollout of the financial assistance by next week. The DSWD will establish staging centers," Uvero said.

Just one month
In a separate radio interview on Wednesday, Uvero said the price cap might only last one month as the harvest season in the rice-producing regions nears.