MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) Wednesday said that starting August 1, it will be launching the “Rice-for-All” program where Filipinos can buy rice worth P45 per kilo.
“Rice under the Rice-for-All program will initially be sold at P45 a kilo. It will be adjusted depending on the movement of rice prices but it will definitely be lower than retail prices in general,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement.
The program will be launched on August 1 and will initially be available at four Kadiwa outlets: FTI in Taguig City, the Bureau of Plant Industry in Manila, Potrero in Malabon, and a location in Caloocan, it said.
This initiative is a continuation of the P29 Rice Program, which offers affordable rice at P29 per kilo exclusively to vulnerable sectors.
The “Rice-for-All” program would provide well-milled rice to the general public, sourced from rice importers and local traders, with a daily purchase limit of 25 kilos per customer, it said.
Other details of the program have yet to be revealed as of writing time. But this is still far from the P20 per kilo promise.
The DA official said this is a response to the call of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to make sure that Filipinos have access to affordable food.
President Marcos wants to ensure that every Filipino has access to affordable food during these trying times. In line with this, we will continue to expand the Kadiwa network and make available more basic goods to the general public,” Tiu Laurel said.
Prior to the P45 Rice for All program, the agriculture department has also planned to expand the P29 rice per kilo in several Kadiwa centers outside Luzon by August 1, too.
By Aug. 1, hopefully, we will have 23 stores plus three provincial areas. We will have one in Cebu, maybe Maguindanao,” the DA chief said.
Consumers can buy the P29 rice per kilo in the following Kadiwa centers:
- Bureau of Animal Industry
- National Irrigation Administration
- Bureau of Plant Industry in Manila
- Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig City
- PhilFIDA in Las Piñas
- Parang Covered Gym in Marikina City
- Llano, Caloocan City
- Valenzuela City
- PFCC in Malabon
- Navotas Institute in Navotas City
- Brgy. Fortune and BF City in Marikina City
- San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan
- Bacoor, Cavite
- San Pedro City Hall in Laguna
- Sta. Rosa City Hall in Laguna
- Antipolo City, Rizal
