By GISELLE OMBAY, GMA Integrated News

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. is eyeing an end to the negative perception on the National Food Authority (NFA) rice, as he seeks to guarantee that the government’s P20-per-kilo rice meets high quality standards.

According to the Department of Agriculture (DA), Tiu Laurel, who also chairs the NFA Council, recently met with regional managers and key officials of NFA to ensure this goal, pointing out that the subsidized rice program is an opportunity to remove the stigma that NFA rice is of “poor quality.”

“This is our chance to change how people view NFA rice,” the DA chief said.

“We want to show that the rice we provide to those in need is not only affordable, but also tasty, nutritious, and just as good as, if not better than, some imported varieties,” he added.

Vice President Sara Duterte has criticized the sale of the P20 per kilo of rice, alleging that the government might sell rice that can be used as feed for pigs.

For its part, Malacañang warned the public to be vigilant against fake news about the subsidized rice program, following the circulation of a video on social media supposedly showing poor quality of rice being sold for P20.

The DA said the NFA is currently increasing its fleet of trucks and expanding storage and drying capacity to purchase more rice from local farmers, especially in hard-to-reach areas.

“The agency still has over P9.8 billion available for palay procurement this year—an amount that could buy palay that would yield 5 million 50-kilo bags of rice. NFA has current inventory equivalent to 8 million bags of rice, with half of that stock bought during the first four months of this year,” the DA noted.

Consumers in the National Capital Region who are qualified to avail of the P20-per-kilo rice have been asking for more stocks under the government’s subsidized rice program. —KG, GMA Integrated News

Published Date: May 19, 2025