DA Begins Moving Rice Stocks to Visayas for P20/Kilo Rice Program

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has ordered the National Food Authority (NFA) to start transporting rice stocks to the Visayas as preparations begin for the launch of the P20-per-kilo rice program. This follows the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) approval to exempt the project from the election spending ban.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the rice will be sourced from the NFA’s buffer stocks, which recently hit a five-year high of 7.17 million 50-kg bags and have since grown to 7.56 million bags—enough to supply the country for about 10 days.

“It will take weeks to transport tens or even hundreds of thousands of 50-kilo bags from Mindoro to various areas in the Visayas,” Tiu Laurel said in a statement.

Though there are around 862,409 rice sacks currently stored in Iloilo, NFA Administrator Larry Lacson stressed the need for additional rice shipments to provinces with lower production, such as Cebu, Negros Island, Samar, and Leyte.

“The extra supplies will mainly come from Mindoro, where the NFA holds over 830,000 bags,” Lacson said, adding that moving 40,000 sacks to Cebu alone could take up to a month.

The P20-per-kilo rice program is part of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s campaign promise to lower rice prices for Filipinos. However, the initiative has sparked criticism—Vice President Sara Duterte warned the public against the quality of rice being offered, suggesting it could be as poor as animal feed.

The DA reassured the public that the rice to be distributed will be of “quality standard.”

Initially, the program will be rolled out in the Visayas, with plans to eventually expand nationwide. Meanwhile, Malacañang has urged caution against misinformation, following the circulation of a viral video allegedly showing poor-quality rice being sold for P20 per kilo, even though the program has not yet officially started.