Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Thursday said he met with the executives of the Department of Trade and Industry at the DSWD Central Office to discuss the finer points in the implementation of the Sustainable Livelihood Program for small rice retailers affected by the imposition of price controls.

Gatchalian and DTI representatives led by Undersecretary Carol P. Sanchez discussed how the DSWD's SLP cash payout will be implemented in line with Executive Order No. 39 which set a price cap on regular milled and well-milled rice effective 5 September.

"We are going to use the [SLP] program to make sure that our retailers are taken care of during this unforeseen time," Gatchalian said during the meeting, which was also attended by the DSWD Operations Group led by Undersecretary Josefina Romualdez.

Gatchalian also reminded the DTI to coordinate with the rice retailers' group following the instructions of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to ensure that all stakeholders are on board during the implementation of the cash aid from DSWD.

"In this case, the DTI was tasked to work with the rice retailers association to identify who the small rice retailers are. They'll pass on the list to us and on the ground we do payouts," the DSWD chief pointed out.

The meeting, according to Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez, was held to expedite the completion of the list of qualified small rice retailers across the country who are the target beneficiaries of the cash aid with a maximum of P15,000 per qualified retailer under the SLP.

"The completion of the master list of the intended beneficiaries is the meeting's top agenda in order to carry out the actual payouts as soon as possible," Lopez said.

Lopez emphasized that while the DSWD is mandated to facilitate the distribution of cash aid, the DTI will be in charge of the grievance and complaints component of the program.

"The DTI will use their current grievance mechanism to address complaints from the ground," the DSWD spokesperson said.

Quezon Province 1st District Rep. Mark Enverga, Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture, also attended the meeting to discuss the House initiative to raise P2 billion from un-programmed funds to be used as augmentation for the DSWD's SLP.

Also present at the meeting were DSWD Undersecretary for General Administration and Support Services Group Atty. Justine Orden, Asst. Secretary for Specialized Programs Florentino Loyola Jr., Director Rhodora Alday of the Policy Development and Planning Bureau, and SLP-National Program Management Office Director Edmund Monteverde.

For the DTI, present during the meeting were Asst. Secretary Agaton Uvero and Director Fhillip Sawal.

"The collaborative effort between DSWD and DTI underscores the government's commitment to provide immediate support to rice retailers affected by the rice ceiling policy," Lopez said.