PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said his administration has begun delivering on its campaign promise to lower the price of rice to P20 per kilogram.
This announcement follows Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.’s declaration that rice will now be sold at P20 per kilo in the Visayas.
“Twenty pesos per kilo of rice — that was the promise, and now we’re starting to make it happen in the Visayas region,” Marcos said in a Facebook post.
The rollout of the P20-per-kilo rice program in the Visayas comes after a closed-door meeting between Marcos and 12 governors from the region.
Under the initiative, low-income Filipino families can purchase rice at P20 per kilo, with each household allowed to buy up to 10 kilograms per week, or 40 kilograms per month.
Tiu Laurel added that the program will eventually be implemented nationwide, once logistical challenges are addressed.
He credited the declining global rice prices as a key factor in making the affordable rice price possible.
Currently, the National Food Authority (NFA) has a rice stock of approximately 358,000 metric tons, which is expected to last more than nine days—more than halfway toward its goal of maintaining a 15-day national buffer stock.
