Bacolod begins selling rice at P20 per kilo
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BACOLOD, Philippines — Bacolod City began selling rice at P20 per kilo on May 5, becoming the first area in the Negros Island Region (NIR) to launch the program aimed at making rice more affordable to Filipino families.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Laurel Jr., who led the launch at the Burgos Public Market, said the government would continue to sell good-quality rice at P20 per kilo until 2028. He also assured farmers their palay would be purchased at fair market prices.
“We have to serve the consumers, and we have to protect the farmers,” Laurel said.
Laurel and Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the program fulfills President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s promise to bring rice prices down to P20 per kilo.
“The President’s instruction is to ensure that good-quality rice is sold at P20 a kilo until 2028,” Laurel said.
Under the Kadiwa ng Pangulo program, members of vulnerable sectors — including indigents, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and solo parents — are eligible to buy National Food Authority (NFA) rice at subsidized price.
Laurel said the rice sold at P20 per kilo through December would be subsidized by both the national and local governments. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, the national government will fully cover the subsidy for approximately 15 million households until the end of Marcos’ term on June 30, 2028.
Laurel said he has asked Congress to increase the NFA’s budget so it can purchase more palay from farmers at competitive prices. The current buying price for palay is P24 per kilo.
He added that amending Republic Act No. 11203, or the Rice Tariffication Law, would enable the NFA to increase its rice procurement from 5% to between 10% and 14% of the country’s total rice production.
Brenda Burdeos, project development officer of the City Cooperative and Livelihood Development Office, said the NFA rice being sold in Bacolod as of June 5 was freshly milled and delivered directly to the city government, not from an NFA warehouse.
She said 480 sacks were allocated for distribution at the Burgos, Libertad, and Central public markets, as well as at the Bacolod Government Center. Sales in barangays will follow.
The city is selling 400 sacks of rice daily until the 5,880-sack supply runs out. Bacolod allocated P7.97 million as its initial counterpart funding and plans to allocate more to purchase additional rice.
In April, President Marcos quietly flew to Cebu for an unannounced closed-door meeting with Visayas governors at the Cebu Provincial Capitol to discuss the initial rollout of the P20-per-kilo rice program in the Visayas.
Laurel previously said the program would be launched first in the Visayas — composed of Central, Western, and Eastern Visayas, as well as NIR — because “there are more people in need in these regions.”
He added that the long-term goal is to implement the program nationwide.
READ: P20 rice, real cost: Who gains, who pays in Marcos’ flagship subsidy?
