Story by Kristina Maralit,Giselle P. Jordan

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said the government is working to ensure that the selling of rice at P20 per kilo would be sustained until the end of his term in 2028.

In a roundtable discussion with reporters at the conclusion of the 46th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit and related meetings held in Kuala Lumpur, Marcos accepted the challenge of prolonging the initiative until his last day in office.

“Watch me sustain it,” he said. “And then, we’ll talk in May of 2028, if it happened or not. We found a way. We found a way to do it.”

“We could not do it before. We couldn’t because there was no system yet. The price of rice was different then,” he said.

Malacañang previously said the program can be sustained up to December of this year “and maybe by the following year.”

The President bared that the government, through the Department of Agriculture (DA), is continuously negotiating with different countries to source the food staple and sell it cheaply in the local market.

“We’re making deals with different countries so that the price is nailed down and not volatile. Whatever happens down the road, at least we were able to do it now. It’s already there. We achieved the P20 price,” he said.

“But at the same time, on the other side, we also made sure there is a budget — the purchase price for farmers is at a good level giving them livelihood. And the difference there, that’s what the government is paying for,” he added.

The DA initially rolled out the “Benteng Bigas Mayroon (BBM) Na” program in Cebu and the DA headquarters in Quezon City last May 1 under the Kadiwa ng Pangulo initiative.

Under the program, each household is allowed a maximum of 30 kilos of National Food Authority (NFA) rice per purchase.

At the moment, those qualified to buy rice at P20/kilo are those in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program program, senior citizens, persons with disability (PWDs) and solo parents.

The DA expanded the program to include around 120,000 minimum wage earners, DA spokesman Arnel de Mesa said on Wednesday.

The 120,000 beneficiaries were identified through a list provided by the Department of Labor and Employment on minimum wage earners across the country. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. earlier said that inclusion is limited to employees of companies that have signified their interest to participate in the pilot implementation of the program; most of these companies are factories. The Bicol Region has the highest population of minimum wage earner beneficiaries.

The beneficiaries will be allowed to purchase 10 kilograms of the P20/kg rice per month, lower than the 30-kilogram limit for those from the vulnerable sectors — Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries, senior citizens, PWDs and solo parents.

De Mesa said increases in the limit or allocation are possible, but for now, their focus is on the sustainability of the program.

He said the agency is finalizing the distribution system to provide beneficiaries with easier access to the program. However, he said it might be easier if the corporations get the rice from the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) or the NFA and bring it to their respective companies for distribution.

De Mesa added that they could look into importing rice from other countries if the continuous expansion of the program would require more rice than what the NFA has in stock.

Since the NFA has no authority to import rice, he said the importation could be done by the FTI. He added that most likely, the importation will be considered for next year, as the NFA’s current stocks and target procurement are more than enough to cover the implementation of the BBM Na! program.

Published Date: May 29, 2025