MANILA, Philippines — The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) has urged the Department of Education and the national government to hasten the release of one-time rice assistance to all public school teachers and ensure that its quality is fit for human consumption.

In a statement issued yesterday, the ACT said it has received complaints from teachers in Nueva Ecija, Mindoro and Bacolod City that the rice given to them were inedible.

Meanwhile, rice provisions for the rest of the regions have yet to be released to teachers, according to the group.

“Our teachers were extremely dismayed with the quality of the rice they received as they were no longer edible. The rice given (to teachers) in Mindoro were yellowish and have a foul smell. The rice distributed in Nueva Ecija were blackish and appeared to be rotten while the rice distributed in Bacolod City were infested with bugs, thus, were just fed to the hens,” ACT chairman Vladimer Quetua said in Filipino.

As per Administrative Order No. 2, series of 2022, signed by President Marcos on Dec. 16 last year, all government employees, including public school teachers, are entitled to a one-time P25-per-kilo rice allowance from the national government.

“This rice provision was ordered by the President last year, but we are now nearing the end of May, and yet, the majority of our teachers has yet to receive any rice allowance,” Quetua said.

He added that they also received reports that in some regions, teachers had been asked to sign acknowledgment receipts already even if the rice assistance had yet to be given to them.

Quetua noted that the government spent around P1.183 billion for the rice assistance of almost 1.83 million government employees and public school teachers, which translates to P25 per kilo of rice found to be inedible by recipient teachers.