By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

THE provincial government of Guimaras has launched its P20-per-kilo rice program on Tuesday, becoming the first province in Western Visayas to implement the government-subsidized rice initiative.

The initial rollout targeted 1,000 beneficiaries from vulnerable sectors, including recipients of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), persons with disability (PWDs), senior citizens and solo parents.

The subsidy aims to benefit up to 25,000 households across the province, with each household entitled to a maximum of 10 kilograms of rice.

The provincial government, however, is planning to decentralize the distribution through local government units (LGUs) to ensure accessibility and orderly implementation.

While the province will still oversee distribution in each municipality, LGUs will assist in the logistics.

In early June, the provincial government signed a memorandum of agreement with Food Terminal, Inc. to procure 5,000 bags of rice from the National Food Authority ( A).

The provincial government has allocated P1.625 million for the procurement of the rice supply.

Department of Agriculture (DA) undersecretary Roger Navarro addresses criticisms about the program’s sustainability, emphasizing that it targets only a portion of the population, leaving the rest to purchase rice from the market.

“Some of the traders are afraid. They say no one will buy from them anymore. But that’s not true. The target is only 15 million people. The entire population of the Philippines is 118 million. If you take away 15 million, you still have 100 million,” he said.

Navarro also urged local farmers who have received support from the DA to sell their produce to the A to strengthen local food security.

“We need to recognize our responsibility to help ensure our communities remain food secure,” he added.

A-6 manager Jasmin Lintag said their agency offers competitive buying prices, with an average of 18 pesos per kilogram and up to 24 pesos for clean and dry palay.

Lintag said the A rice being sold during the launch is guaranteed to be 100 percent locally sourced from Filipino farmers and contains no imported rice.

Meanwhile, DA-6 director Dennis Arpia highlighted that funding for the region’s agriculture sector has significantly increased under the Marcos administration.

“Since I came here two years ago, the amount of funds that were allocated to the DA-6 has increased by P2 billion. It means that even if there is a program like this, it is not subtracted from our help for the farmers,” he said.

Published Date: July 11, 2025