By TED CORDERO, GMA Integrated News

Some 35,000 bags of well-milled National Food Authority (NFA) rice for the pilot test of the government’s P20 per kilo rice initiative had arrived in Cebu province, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Tuesday.

In a news release, the DA said the NFA on Monday began unloading the rice shipment —from the grains agency’s Mindoro warehouse.

The 35,000 bags of NFA well-milled rice form part of the 600,000 bags of rice ordered by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia for the province’s P20 per kilo rice initiative.

Cebu, along with Bohol, Siquijor, and Southern Leyte, joined the subsidized rice initiative and has an initial combined order of 673,000 50-kilo bags for the pilot test that will run until December to collect data needed to possibly expand and extend the program.

Broken down, Siquijor has placed an order for 40,000 bags of rice, Southern Leyte has ordered 30,000 bags, while Bohol has ordered 3,000 bags.

The P20 per kilo subsidized rice program is jointly implemented by the DA, through its Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), in partnership with participating local government units (LGUs).

Under the initiative, FTI and each participating LGU will equally shoulder the P13-per-kilo subsidy to bring the retail price of rice down to P20.

The rice is sourced from the NFA’s stocks purchased from local farmers.

The DA said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has earmarked P4.5 billion from his contingency fund to support the pilot implementation of the program.

Marcos has directed the DA to continue the initiative until the end of his term in 2028.

The DA is also implementing the initiative in 12 Kadiwa ng Pangulo centers in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Vulnerable groups—including solo parents, persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and beneficiaries of the government’s 4Ps program—will have access to the P20 rice at KADIWA centers.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary for Agribusiness, Marketing, and Consumer Affairs Genevieve Velicaria-Guevarra, overseeing the KADIWA program, for her part, said that 32 centers across Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Mindoro, and Rizal will begin selling the subsidized rice by May 15. — VBL, GMA Integrated News

Published Date: May 13, 2025