P20-per-kilo rice to be available in Kadiwa centers on May 2 —DA

Rice will be available at KADIWA or Katuwang sa Diwa at Gawa para sa Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita centers at P20 per kilo starting May 2, the Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

The DA did not specify which centers the cheaper rice will be made available, but noted that local governments  in the Visayas and in San Juan City, San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, Camarines Sur, and Mati in Davao Oriental have joined the initiative.

The P20-per-kilo rice will only be for indigents, senior citizens, solo parents, and persons with disabilities, with a cap of 30 kilos per month.

“The new rice option aligns with the ‘Bente Bigas Mo’ pilot program in the Visayas and in the 10 local government units (LGUs) that have joined the initiative, where NFA (National Food Authority) rice is sold at P33 per kilo due to the national food security emergency,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement.

“With world market prices now averaging just USD 300 per metric ton—down from a high of over USD 700—and with NFA buffer stocks at their strongest in years, we felt the conditions were finally right to launch,” he added.

Latest data available from the DA’s price monitoring show that prices of rice in Metro Manila markets ranged from P39.99 to P58.17 per kilo from April 21 to April 24, 2025, depending on the variety.

The rice will be procured by Food Terminal Inc. from the NFA, which reported a total buffer stock of 7.56 million bags of rice, equivalent to a five-year high estimated to meet the national demand for ten days.

“My directive to our teams on the ground is to purchase as much palay as possible, at P18 to P24 per kilo, to help boost farmers’ incomes,” NFA administrator Larry Lacson said in the same statement.

This comes after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) exempted the P20-per-kilo project of the DA from the election spending ban ahead of the May 12 polls. The initiative is in line with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s campaign promise to lower prices of rice to P20 per kilogram.

The DA over the weekend said it ordered the NFA to start transferring rice stocks to the Visayas region, in preparation for the launch of the P20-per-kilo rice program.—AOL, GMA Integrated News