Jamaine Punzalan

Residents buy rice at P20 per kilo at a Kadiwa stall in front of the Navotas City Hall on May 14, 2025. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Pia Gutierrez

Katrina Domingo

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/174839991038820250514-kadiwa-cheap-rice-navotas-JC-3.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Residents buy rice at P20 per kilo at a Kadiwa stall in front of the Navotas City Hall on May 14, 2025. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News </span></span></span></div><div><br id="isPasted"/></div><p>MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday assured the public that the administration’s P20/kilo rice program would be sustainable until 2028, as he denied criticism that the initiative would be short-lived.</p><p>Marcos said the government had found a system to ensure that his administration could provide cheap rice to vulnerable sectors until the end of his term.</p><p>“‘Yung mga nagsasabi, ‘Hindi, ano lang ‘yan, medyo ano pang – pangpapogi lang ‘yan. Pang ano -- pang cosmetic lang ‘yan.’ Well, they&#x27;re fair to make that – to have that opinion. But…it&#x27;s unsustainable,” Marcos told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia after attending the ASEAN Summit.</p><p>“Watch me sustain it. And then, we&#x27;ll talk in May of 2028, natuloy ba o hindi. We found a way. We found a way to do it. We found a way to do it,” he added. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/5/20/da-eyes-expanding-p20-kilo-rice-program-1746">DA eyes expanding P20/kilo rice program</a></div><p>Marcos said that the Philippines had been negotiating with other countries to ensure that the government could sustain the cheap rice program.</p><p>“Ayan ‘yung mga bilateral na ginagawa namin. We&#x27;re making deals with different countries para ‘yung presyo mapako na na hindi pabago-bago,” he said.</p><p>“Kahit anong mangyari down the road, nagawa na ngayon natin. Wala tayong ganoon noon eh. Ngayon mayroon na. Kaya’t kaya na nating gawin ‘yung 20 pesos.”</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/5/16/p20-kilo-rice-fit-for-human-consumption-da-1000">P20/kilo rice ‘fit for human consumption’ – DA</a></div><p>The Philippine leader also noted that the price of rice had recently gone down.</p><p>“But at the same time, on the other side, tinitiyak natin na ang pambili, ‘yung pagbili – ang presyo ng pagbili sa farmers ay magandang presyo naman para naman ‘yung farmers natin, maganda ang kanilang hanapbuhay. And the difference there, that&#x27;s what the government is paying for,” he said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/5/26/da-chief-hopes-to-release-palay-floor-price-before-next-harvest-season-1628">DA chief hopes to release palay floor price before next harvest season</a></div><div><iframe width="1250" height="703" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hqR68i_1pCo" title="Palace explains why Visayas gets first dibs on P20/kilo rice | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>MODERNIZING AGRI SECTOR</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>The government will further invest in modernizing the Philippines’ agriculture sector to pull down rice prices for consumers and increase the profit of farmers, Marcos said in a dialogue with farmers in Bulacan on Wednesday.</p><p>The government has been implementing various programs to buy rice directly from farmers instead of going through middlemen and traders, the President told farmers who gathered at the National Food Authority’s (NFA) warehouse in San Ildefonso town.</p><p>“Ngayon ang ginagawa namimigay ng truck… sa bawat cooperative para maihatid sa amin [yung palay] at mabawasan yung presyo [pagdating sa palengke],” he said.</p><p>“‘Pag cooperative na ang may-ari ng truck, kapag cooperative na ang may-ari ng equipment, hindi na pagkikitaan ang milling,” he said.</p><p>The Department of Agriculture (DA) is studying the implementation of a floor price for palay, the President said.</p><p>Meanwhile, the NFA said that it was building more warehouses and equipping some of these with silos to prolong the freshness of the staple grain.</p><p>“Ang target natin mabuksan this year yung total na 134 warehouses nationwide na nire-repair sa ngayon,” said NFA Administrator Larry Lacson.</p><p>“Target completion itong July bago mag-anihan nang tag-ulan tapos na lahat,” he told reporters.</p><p>The NFA expects to establish some of the planned 96 rice processing facilities next year so that it can procure more wet palay from farmers, Lacson said.</p><p>“‘Yung mga makina na ilalagay doon ibi-bid pa lang natin so it will take one year. We are expecting at least man lang yung dryer for the first quarter of next year. Hopefully pati rice mill hanggang June ay mayroon na,” he said.</p><p>“It will help the farmers na hindi niya na problema ang pagpapatuyo dahil kukuhanin na namin sa kanila ng basa o fresh,” he said.</p><p>“Ang drying kasi as much as P3 per kilo ang gastos sa drying. Kung umaani siya ng 5 tons, 5,000 kilos that’s P15,000,” he said.</p><p>As of May 26, the NFA has been buying clean and dry palay from farmers for P24 per kilo, while fresh or wet palay is priced at P18 per kilo, according to data from the agency.</p><p>The NFA chief said that they were also looking to repack palay into sealed plastic packages in “lower sizes” to avoid insect infestation.</p><p>“Magkakaroon na tayo ng packaging na mas lower ang sizes, mga 10 kilos, may 25 kilos at may packaging na hindi papasukin ng insekto so mas secure ang stock natin,” he said. </p><p>Marcos Jr.’s dialogue with farmers comes weeks after his administration recalibrated some of its programs after the President said that the public is “disappointed with the government’s service.”</p><p>Earlier this month, the administration started selling P20 per kilo rice in select areas for indigent Filipinos to fulfill one of the President’s campaign promises.</p>

<p>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday assured the public that the administration’s P20/kilo rice program would be sustainable until 2028, as he denied criticism that the initiative would be short-lived.</p>

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday assured the public that the administration’s P20/kilo rice program would be sustainable until 2028, as he denied criticism that the initiative would be short-lived.

Marcos on P20/kilo rice program: Watch me sustain it

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Marcos on P20/kilo rice program: Watch me sustain it

Pia Gutierrez,

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 28, 2025 10:41 AM PHT

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Updated May 28, 2025 12:36 PM PHT

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