The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday led the send-off of 35,000 bags of rice from Occidental Mindoro to Central Visayas, marking the second major shipment under the government’s flagship P20 per kilo rice initiative.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. personally inspected the rice before shipment, part of the 100,000 50-kg sack order placed by Cebu governor Gwendolyn Garcia to support the subsidized rice distribution in the province. An earlier batch of 35,000 bags arrived three weeks ago, with multiple provinces, including Cebu, co-funding the initiative aimed at lowering rice prices and stabilizing supply.
“This is more than just rice—it’s policy in motion,” said Tiu Laurel, emphasizing the dual goal of supporting farmers with fair prices while delivering affordable rice to consumers. He highlighted the DA’s coordination with the National Food Authority (NFA) in clearing storage space to procure more local palay, with NFA now offering up to P24/kg for dry palay, well above private trader rates.
NFA Administrator Larry Lacson confirmed expanded storage capacity nationwide, noting repairs to nine warehouses and near completion of another in Mindoro, which together will raise total storage on the island to over 1 million bags. As of May 30, NFA’s Mindoro branch had procured 405,219 bags of palay—nearly double its target and 10 percent of the island’s projected harvest.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, Mindoro’s rice-producing provinces contributed over 3% of the national palay output in 2023, underscoring their strategic role in the DA’s broader food security push.
While market monitoring shows well-milled local rice still retails at P38–P52/kg in Metro Manila, the government’s P20/kg program, supported by targeted subsidies, remains a key policy lever for price stabilization and farmer support.
