THE Presidential Palace on Thursday said that it is still ironing out logistics issues to eventually roll out the government’s P20-per-kilogram rice program nationwide.
“We are still fixing possible logistics issues, but it will be implemented nationwide,” Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire A. Castro said at a news briefing.
“Hopefully, next year this (program) will be given adequate funding so that assistance from local government units (LGUs) will no longer be needed.”
This followed Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr.’s announcement on Wednesday that the Department of Agriculture will conduct a pilot program to offer subsidized rice at P20 per kilo in the Visayas.
This comes after a closed-door meeting of 12 Visayas governors and President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Wednesday.
The government has set aside P3.5 billion to P4.5 billion for the program, expected to run until 2028.
“The Visayas became the pilot area because they were the first to announce that they would also cooperate,” Ms. Castro added.
Visayas was also chosen due to the influx of rice stocks in National Food Authority warehouses after the conclusion of the harvest season.
She added that LGUs will provide the necessary guidelines on where to buy the lower priced rice.
“It could be in their public markets, authorized outlets, their employees. This will depend on the guidelines released by the LGUs,” Ms. Castro said.
Bringing down the price of Filipinos’ staple food to P20 per kilo was among the campaign promises of Mr. Marcos during the 2022 presidential election.
“It has only now been thoroughly studied because over the course of days, months, and years, we have studied how to implement it,” Ms. Castro said.
To lower the price of rice, the government declared a food security emergency on rice to tame the retail price of local grain in February. This allowed the NFA to release rice buffer stocks to local markets.
The DA also implemented a maximum suggested retail price on imported rice at P45 per kilo last March. — Adrian H. Halili