The National Food Authority (NFA) has resumed palay procurement in Bulacan after clearing out space in its warehouses, carrying out President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to purchase as much as possible to bolsters farmers’ income and build up the grain reserves needed to sustain the P20 per kilo rice program.
“We directed our miller to hasten pick up of palay from our warehouse in San Ildefonso Bulacan. We now have storage space to buy as many as 5,000 sacks,” NFA administrator Larry Lacson reported to Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel. “We can now resume purchasing rice from Bulacan farmers.”
This development comes after pleas from Bulacan farmers for the resumption of palay purchases, which the NFA had to pause due to lack of storage space. The vacuum left farmers vulnerable to opportunistic traders, who reportedly slashed buying prices to as low as P11.50 per kilo—below the estimated production cost of P12 to P14.
Desperate but strategic, many farmers chose to store their harvest, holding out for the return of the NFA, which buys fresh palay at a more viable P18 per kilo and dry grains at up to P24. The renewed procurement drive is expected to stabilize farmgate prices and deter market manipulation.
The NFA’s inventory fuels the P20 per kilo rice initiative, a central pillar of President Marcos’ food security strategy, intended to benefit up to 60 million Filipinos and extend through the end of his term in June 2028.
Secretary Tiu Laurel—who also chairs the NFA Council—previously ordered the agency to mill as much palay as possible. He said increased palay milling will allow NFA to buy more grains to boost farmer incomes while fortifying the government’s rice reserve, a buffer stock meant to cushion the nation in times of calamity or crisis.
As of May 20, the NFA’s palay and rice inventory total 8.24 million 50-kilo bags—enough to feed every Filipino for 11 days.
