NO “rice access cards” have been issued yet by government thru the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) which is still in the process of finalizing the list of beneficiaries and developing a distribution strategy that will be as fool-proof and tamper-proof, as possible.

DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral issued this clarification in the wake of reports that some families are this early already being offered such “access cards” for P2 to P10 apiece.

She asked barangay officials to be alert for such scams, admitting that her office cannot keep a 24-hour watch over such scam artists who may go to communities.

“Wala pa po kaming binibigay na family access cards. Wala silang mabibigay na peke (We have not even issued any family access cards. So no one should know how they look like),” Cabral said in an interview.

The rice access cards that will be out in the coming weeks, it was learned, is meant for poor families with monthly incomes of less than P5,000.

Cabral also said the DSWD is eyeing high-tech features in the cards to thwart makers of fake cards, such as bar codes that would make fake cards trigger an alarm when scanned.

The distribution of the cards, Cabral said, will follow possibly next week when the cheaper rice has been pulled out of markets and distributed through rolling stores or outlets run by local government units in the barangays. The cards will allow bearers to buy National Food Authority (NFA) rice at P18.25 per kilo.

Meantime, Cabral said in an interview over a Manila radio station that the DSWD continues to prepare for the distribution of family access cards by mapping out poor families in various areas of the country.

She said her department will keep a strict line against the program falling into charges of political gimmickry.