DA: Marcos admin to launch P20/kg. rice sale in Visayas

FILE: ACHIEVED. The National Food Authority hits more than 100 percent of its target palay (unhusked rice) procurement for the first half of the year on Thursday (June 13, 2024) with 3,363,100 bags or 168,155 metric tons, according to Administrator Larry Lacson. Photo shows an NFA warehouse in San Ildefonso, Bulacan during an inspection on June 7. (PNA photo by Joan Bondoc)

By Stephanie Sevillano, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday announced the pilot launch of PHP20 per kg. rice sale in the Visayas, in line with the food security, accessibility, and affordability targets of the Marcos administration.

The program’s pilot was announced shortly after a closed-door meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and 12 governors in Visayas.

In a press conference streamed via Facebook Live, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said this will be the first time the cheapest rice will be available to the public.

“Ngayon lang natin ila-launch ito, kaya nag-meeting today… It’s because, well, mas kailangan ng tao dito tsaka may stocks din tayo dito (We’re just launching it now, that’s why we have a meeting today. It’s because, well, the people need it more here and we also have enough stocks here),” Tiu Laurel said.

Under the program, each family will be allowed a 10-kg. purchase per week or a total of 40 kg. every month.

He said the declining trend of world market prices for rice has contributed to the feasibility of delivering the PHP20/kg. rice price, which is a promise of the Marcos administration.

“Ever since I came into office, that was the basic question. Can we give PHP20 rice to the masses? At that time, I always answered that it was an aspiration of this administration. So it was always on our mind that the DA team has been working day and night on how to bring this to reality,” Tiu Laurel said.

“So ngayon na bumaba ang (Now that there’s a dropping) world market prices, mas magaan na ang subsidy nito (our subsidy is lighter).”

Tiu Laurel also cited an adequate rice stock inventory at the National Food Authority (NFA) warehouses in the Visayas, particularly in Iloilo.

Besides Visayas, he said the program is designed to be implemented nationwide once challenges in logistics are addressed.

“We have to also move out stocks from other areas kasi the other factor na kailangan din namin gawin ito sa DA is because talagang punong-punong pa rin ang warehouses ng DA ng bigas at palay (that we need to do this in DA is because the DA warehouses are very much filled with rice and unhusked rice),” he said.

To date, the NFA has around 358,000 metric tons (MT) of rice stocks, which will last for over nine days, more than halfway to its target national rice buffer stock of 15 days.

The NFA is currently ramping up efforts for local palay procurement to support farmers amid the harvest season.

Tiu Laurel, meanwhile, urged local government units to work with the DA to expand the program implementation, benefiting more Filipino families with cheaper rice.

He said the President directed the DA to ensure the PHP20 per kg. sale sustainability until the end of Marcos’ term in 2028.