DA to supply P20/kilo of rice to DSWD-listed retailers — Sec. Gatchalian

The Department of Agriculture will supply P20 per kilo of rice to accredited retailers of the Department of Social Welfare and Development for their food program, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said Tuesday.

At a Palace press briefing, Gatchalian said those classified as ''food poor'' beneficiaries usually avail food commodities from DSWD-registered or accredited retailers. Amid the government's P20 per kilo of rice program, Gatchalian said the DA would provide rice to these listed retailers. 

''Remember 'yung mga food poor natin, nag-a-avail sila sa mga accredited retailers, normally mga Kadiwa ng Pangulo, mga maliliit na agriculture coops, mga MSMEs... 'yan 'yung isa pong benepisyo ng programa na 'to eh, natutulungan 'yung local economy kasi doon rin bumibili 'yung mga food poor natin na benepisyaryo,'' Gatchalian said. 

(Remember for our food poor, they can avail from accredited retailers such as the Kadiwa ng Pangulo, small agriculture cooperatives and MSMES... that's one of the benefits of this program, they can also help the local economy because those food poor beneficiaries usually buy from them.) 

''Ang hiningi sa amin ng Department of Agriculture 'yung listahan ng mga retailer para puwede nilang supplyan noong P20/kilo na bigas. Kasi kung tatandaan niyo 'yung food credit tatlong libo 'yun, so kung bumaba 'yung cost ng mga bilihin like 'yung rice, mas marami silang mabibili. Ngayon ginagamit na nila 'yung food credits na 'yun sa mga accredited retailers. Ang magiging bagong dimension nito, susupplyan ng Department of Agriculture 'yung mga retailers na 'yun noong murang bigas,'' he added. 

(The DA has asked a list of retailers from us so they can supply P20 per kilo of rice. If you remember, the food credit is worth P3,000 and if the cost of commodities would be lower, they can buy more food items. They use these food credits on accredited retailers. The new dimension is that the DA will supply cheaper rice to our accredited retailers.) 

In a separate statement, the DA said it approved the DSWD’s request for the agency to supply 490,000 sacks of rice from June to December.

"It is actually the DA that should be thanking the DSWD for helping move a significant portion of our stocks. This clears space in our warehouses and allows us to buy more palay from local farmers at fair prices," said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

The DA said NFA stocks currently exceed eight million sacks—pushing storage to near capacity. 

The Agriculture Department said offloading rice for the DSWD and the P20 rice program would help sustain procurement and ensure continued farmer support and consumer relief.

The P20 per kilogram rice program is currently being rolled out to vulnerable sectors, and has been recently expanded to minimum wage earners. Households of qualified beneficiaries may purchase up to 30 kilograms of rice per month.

The DSWD has since implemented the Walang Gutom Program, which is a partnership between the government and the private sector, with an aim to address involuntary hunger and to help minimize food wastage in the country.

The program was in line with the country's commitment to realize the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No. 2 to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030.

Hunger incidence 

Meanwhile, hunger incidence has dropped among the beneficiaries of the DSWD's Walang Gutom Program. 

''Ang unang 300,000 na miyembro nitong program na ito ay nakakakain na ng maayos at unti-unti nang bumababa ang incidence ng kagutuman among the food poor,'' Gatchalian reiterated in the briefing. 

(The first 300,000 members of this program can eat sufficiently and the hunger incidence has since dropped among food poor.) 

To recall, the DSWD partnered with telecommunications company Globe and poll firm Social Weather Stations to address food insecurity in the country. A two-wave study was carried out to alleviate hunger among Filipino families. 

The survey result showed that the share of households experiencing hunger dropped by 4.1 percentage points from 48.7% in October 2024 to 44.6% in December of that year. 

The field work was conducted from October 7 to 18, 2024 and from December 1 to 10, 2024. It covered a total of 3,991 respondents from 33 provinces across the Philippines. — RSJ/VDV, GMA Integrated News