Around 60,000 member-owners of the Perpetual Help Community Cooperative Inc. (PHCCI) in Central Visayas will be receiving five kilos each of rice as an early Christmas gift starting this weekend.

PHCCI chief executive officer Cliffordson Lariosa said during a press conference here on Wednesday they are releasing the early Christmas gift to its member-owners in line with a resolution passed by the board of directors.

“The board of directors is happy with the performance of the management because as early as September, the cooperative has already reached its target for the year,” he said in mixed English and Cebuano.

PHCCI has allocated PHP14 million for the rice distribution under the Bugas Para sa Kaabag 2022 program which will start on Saturday in the city and at satellite offices in Siquijor and Cebu.

Lariosa said all members, regardless of whether they are in good or bad standing or except for those with pending litigation, are qualified to receive the early Christmas present, which is done annually.

The coverage includes cooperative members in the main office here and satellite offices in other parts of Negros Oriental, Cebu, and Siquijor.

The distribution is also in time for the city fiesta here next week and onward to the holidays.

Lariosa said there are about 102,000 member-owners of PHCCI but the cooperative is conservative in the procurement of rice for distribution to avoid wastage, based on the turnout in previous years.

“Many qualified members did not come to collect their rice allocation for several reasons and so what we did was we raffled off the remainder of the staple,” he said. (PNA)