By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

ILOILO CITY — Small rice farmers and farm workers in Iloilo can now also purchase rice at P20 per kilo at the National Food Authority Western Visayas ( A-6) warehouse in the Jaro district of Iloilo City. 

Farmers from Dumangas, Oton, New Lucena and San Miguel were among the first to benefit from the expanded “Benteng Bigas Meron Na!” rollout of A-6 on Thursday. 

Eligible rice farmers are those tilling two hectares or less and farm workers registered under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture. 

They can buy rice up to 10 kilograms monthly or 50 kilograms at once covering the months of August to December. 

 The expanded subsidized rice program aims to benefit around five million rice farmers and farm workers nationwide. The other recipients of the program are the senior citizens, solo parents, persons with disability and minimum wage earners. 

A-Iloilo manager Glenda Paz said an initial 500 bags of well-milled rice will be released daily. 

The rice, she said, is sourced directly from farmers in Iloilo and the nearby island-province of Guimaras.

Paz added that the government continues to buy palay from local farmers at competitive rates of P23 to P30 per kilo for clean and dry palay, and P17 to P23 for wet palay.

Iloilo’s limited drying facilities, however, restrict A’s capacity to absorb more harvest. 

Published Date: September 5, 2025