By ANNA FELICIA BAJO, GMA Integrated News

President Ferdinand ”Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday explained why it took time for him to fulfill his campaign promise of P20 per kilo of rice. 

In his speech during One Cebu rally, Marcos said the government needs to provide assistance first to the local farmers, including the provision of machinery. 

”Iyan po ay nakamit na natin. Hindi po naabot kaagad dahil ito po ay kailangan ayusin po natin ang ating pagtulong sa ating mga magsasaka. Kailangan bigyan natin sila ng mga makinarya,” Marcos said. 

(We’ve attained this. We didn’t achieve it immediately because we need to fix our assistance to farmers. We need to give them machinery.) 

”Kailangan magtayo tayo ng mga processing center. Iyan kaya’t sinimulan po namin ito pag-upo. Dahan-dahan, dumadami na. Kaya’t kaya na naming gawin ito. Pinalitan pa natin ang batas ng NFA, halimbawa, at marami pa po tayong gagawin,” he added. 

(We need to establish processing centers. That’s what we started when we assumed office. It started to grow. We can do this now. We will do more.)

Marcos, who served as Agriculture chief at the start of his presidency, expressed belief that the country’s agricultural sector is stronger now. 

”Ngunit ngayon matibay-tibay na ang agricultural sector natin. Kaya’t pinropose ko po sa lahat ng mga gobernador ng Visayas na sabi ko, ‘Bakit ‘di natin subukan itong P20 per kilo dito sa inyo?”’ Marcos said. 

(Our agriculture sector is stronger now, that’s why we proposed to the governors of Visayas for us to try selling the P20 per kilo of rice in the region.)

Marcos had since been hopeful about his campaign promise to reduce the price of rice to as low as P20 per kilo.

He had said the aspiration hinges on fixing the value chain, or the series of stages involved in producing a product or service that is sold to consumers, with each stage adding to the value of the product or service.

The Department of Agriculture has decided to temporarily halt the sale of P20 per kilo rice for 10 days in deference to the ayuda ban amid the election season.

Earlier, the Commission on Elections announced that the distribution of ayuda would be banned from May 2 to May 12, or 10 days leading to the midterm elections. —LDF, GMA Integrated News

Published Date: May 5, 2025