DA: P20/kilo rice to be sold in Visayas

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April 24, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. yesterday announced that the government will start selling rice at P20 per kilo in the Visayas following a closed-door meeting with President Marcos and 12 governors at Cebu Provincial Capitol.

At a press conference, Tiu Laurel said the government will allot at least P3.5 billion to P4.5 billion to subsidize the program.

“We are launching it (P20 per kilo of rice) here because many in the (Visayas) region are in need but of course the eventual intention of the program, once we sort out all the issues logistically, is to launch it and manage it nationwide, eventually,” Tiu Laurel said.

“It was agreed that each family may avail itself of (a maximum) 10 kilos per week or 40 kilos per month,” Tiu Laurel added.

“It may sound ugly, but people need it here more,” Tiu Laurel said, adding that the Visayas has a high retail price of rice in its 12 provinces.

According to Tiu Laurel, the government can tap the stocks of the National Food Authority, now pegged at 358,000 metric tons (MT).

Reducing the price of rice to P20 per kilo was a key campaign promise of Marcos during the 2022 presidential race.

Tiu Laurel added that initially, the Department of Agriculture (DA) targets to implement the P20 per kilo of rice until February 2026 but Marcos wants it to last until the end of his term in June 2028.

Meanwhile, farmers’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) yesterday said the P20 per kilo of rice is possible, but the government needs to provide a subsidy of P14 per kilo to implement it.

SINAG executive director Jayson Cainglet said at least P4.5 billion is needed to subsidize at least 320,000 MT of rice at P20 a kilo.

“If the National Food Authority is buying at P18 per kilo of palay plus the cost to mill, (the total cost will be) P33 to 34 per kilo. That means the subsidy is P14 per kilo,” Cainglet said.

He added that the government should ensure that the P20 per kilo of rice will not result in a further drop in the farmgate price of palay as it should be at least P18 per kilo.

VP: P20/K rice fit only for pigs

Vice President Sara Duterte yesterday cast doubt over the quality of rice to be sold for P20 per kilo program in the Visayas, cautioning people in the region which she said could signal that the rice is more suited for animal feed and unfit for human consumption.

“I have a suspicion that they will sell P20 per kilo rice, but it is not for people but for animals. If you say P20 rice, it should be edible. The P20 is for pigs,” Duterte told reporters in a chance interview in Negros Occidental.

“Filipinos are not pigs, not animals. If you sell P20 per kilo rice we will only buy it if people can eat it,” she added.

The Vice President said she doubts the administration could pull through with the program, considering how Marcos had been unable to make possible the P20 rice he promised during his campaign.

She added that the public should be cautious of the timing and circumstances surrounding the planned implementation in the Visayas, saying signs are showing that the administration is struggling to win votes in the region for its senatorial bets under the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas.

“That is another promise that is only for the election and the senator candidates, so that their Alyansa could win when two of their candidates already left them. Because as far as I know, their Alyansa does not have a direction,” she said, referring to Sen. Imee Marcos and Rep. Camille Villar, whose senatorial bids she endorsed recently. — Neil Jayson Servallos