Author: DA Press Office

The National Food Authority (NFA) on Monday started unloading 35,000 bags of well-milled rice in Cebu, a shipment from Mindoro that is part of the pilot test in the Visayas for the P20-a-kilo rice program of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and Southern Leyte have agreed to join the subsidized rice intiative and have an initial combined order of 673,000 50-kilo bags for the pilot test that will run until December to collect data need to expand and extend the program.

NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said that the shipments are part of the 600,000 bags of rice ordered by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia for the province’s “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!” (BBM Na!) initiative.

Siquijor has placed an order for 40,000 bags of rice, Southern Leyte has ordered 30,000 bags, and Bohol ordered 3,000 bags.

BBM Na! is a subsidized rice program jointly implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DA), through its Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), in partnership with participating local government units. FTI and LGU will equally shoulder the P13-per-kilo subsidy to bring the retail price of rice down to P20. The rice is sourced from NFA stocks purchased from local farmers.

President Marcos has allocated P4.5 billion from his contingency fund to support the pilot implementation of the program, which runs until December 2025. He has also directed the DA to continue the initiative through the end of his term in 2028 and pledge full support for the program that aims to ease the financial burden s of consumers, particularly those from vulnerable sectors such as senior citizens and the indigents.

Currently, the program is being piloted in the Visayas region, KADIWA ng Pangulo centers, 11 participating LGUs, and selected National Housing Authority (NHA) resettlement sites that have participated in the government’s national food security emergency response.

Administrator Lacson said the transfer to Cebu is expected to be completed by June, with 240,000 sacks coming from NFA warehouses in Mindoro and Iloilo.

He added that the decongestion of NFA warehouses is necessary to allow for the continued procurement of palay from local farmers. As of April 30, NFA rice stocks stood at approximately 7.93 million bags, equivalent to a 10-day national consumption buffer.

The NFA currently buys palay from farmers at prices ranging from P18 to P24 per kilo. The agency is seeking to at least double its current P9-billion allocation to enhance its market influence and support farmer profitability.

On Tuesday, the day after the May 12 midterm elections, the rollout of P20 rice in 12 KADIWA ng Pangulo centers in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. The number of KADIWA centers will increase to 32 on Thursday, May 15.

Published Date: May 15, 2025