The city government here has partnered with the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) in selling refined sugar at a cheaper price of PHP70 per kilo for household consumers starting Monday.

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, who led the launching of the initiative before the city employees at the Government Center, said there is a need to address high inflation, which is caused mainly by price increases in food commodities, that is why the government must temper food prices.

“The intervention of the national government, by the President (Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.), is to ensure that we have cheap food products. It starts with sugar because the sugar mills are just nearby. Eventually, it will include rice and other food products,” he said.

Brenda Burdeos, head of the City Cooperative and Livelihood Development Office (CCLDO), said the SRA initially provided 500 kilos of sugar for the launching, which were sold out within an hour.

“These are intended for households. Only two kilos per household is allowed,” she said.

The sugar was supplied by Victorias Milling Company (VMC), which is among the sugar mills that offered sugar to be sold by the government at PHP70 per kilo.

Currently, VMC refined sugar is sold at around PHP112 per kilo in supermarkets here.

Burdeos said the CCLDO is coordinating with the vendors’ groups to serve as the city’s partners in selling Kadiwa sugar in designated areas in the three major public markets.

In February this year, Benitez wrote a letter to SRA acting Administrator Dave John Thaddeus Alba, expressing the intent of the city government to participate in the program that ensures the availability of affordable sugar to household consumers and Kadiwa outlets.

He said the CCLDO intends to avail of 1,000 kilos of sugar every week on a consignment basis.

“We will increase volume as needed,” he added. (PNA)