By TED CORDERO, GMA Integrated News

The government’s P20-per-kilo rice initiative, initially for vulnerable sectors, will be opened to farmers registered under the Department of Agriculture’s Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) starting mid-next month.

In a news release on Wednesday, the DA said, beginning August 13, RSBA-registered farmers will be allowed to participate in the “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!” program.

“It is only fair that those who produce the rice we eat have access to the P20-per-kilo rice we make available to vulnerable sectors, including minimum wage earners,” said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. 

“There will be KADIWA-FTI booths in NFA warehouses that will sell P20 rice,” he added.

The P20 rice program for RSBA-registered farmers will be launched in Regions II and III next month.

Farmers listed under the RSBSA will initially be eligible to purchase up to 10 kilos of P20 rice per month. 

Currently, around 2.9 million rice farmers are registered under the RSBSA, according to the DA.

Moreover, plans are being fine-tuned, particularly logistics, to include fisherfolk in the subsidized rice program, said Tiu Laurel.

There are 2.8 million RSBSA-registered fisherfolk.

The subsidized rice is sold primarily through the KADIWA ng Pangulo centers and in participating government agencies and local government units. 

The rice is sourced by Food Terminal Inc. from the NFA, which is required by law to build a buffer stock with rice bought only from local farmers.

Farmers could avail of their monthly allocation in bulk. 

“This means that if they want, they could buy a 50-kilo sack of the P20 rice to cover their allocation from August to December,” said Tiu Laurel, who also chairs the policy-making NFA Council.

If all registered farmers avail of their monthly entitlement, the NFA will release approximately 520,000 50-kilo bags of rice from its stocks each month, the DA said.

To replenish these stocks, the agency will have to procure two bags of palay for every bag of rice released—creating more selling opportunities for rice farmers at better prices and helping stabilize palay farm-gate prices, the Agriculture Department noted.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his fourth State of the Nation Address, has directed the DA to expand the coverage of the P20 rice program to benefit as many as 15 million households—or around 60 million Filipinos—by next year. 

The administration aims to sustain the program until the end of the President’s term in June 2028, fulfilling a major campaign promise to ensure accessible, affordable rice for all.

The Agriculture chief said an P18 billion budget has been approved by President Marcos for the rice program for 2026. —AOL, GMA Integrated News

Published Date: July 30, 2025