DA to expand P20 per kilo of rice to fisherfolk starting August 29

Fisherfolk will be included in the list of beneficiaries who can avail the P20 per kilo of rice, the Department of Agriculture said Monday. 

In a press statement, the DA announced that the fisherfolk would be part of the growing list of beneficiaries of the “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!'' starting August 29. This will start in fish ports, the DA added. 

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. described the P20 rice initiative as the DA’s “biggest challenge” in the years ahead, noting that while the program is already serving nearly 400,000 families, it still needs “full support” from the entire agency.

“We have the stocks. We have the budget. What we need now is urgency and unity,” Tiu Laurel said in a statement, referring to the P10-billion increase in rice program funding under the proposed 2026 national budget.

To recall, the government's rice program was originally limited to senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents and indigents. 

It was then expanded to include minimum wage earners, beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Walang Gutom program, and farmers and farm workers listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture.

The DA said that in the three days since the launch of the Benteng Bigas, Meron Na para sa mga Magsasaka, a total of 70 metric tons of rice sourced from the National Food Authority has been sold to rice farmers and farm workers. 

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. ensured that the coverage of the Benteng Bigas program would expand to guarantee that more sectors of the population can access the staple food at a cheaper cost.

Initially launched in the Visayas last April, at least 162 locations across the country have since been offering the cheaper subsidized rice, the DA had said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News