GOVERNMENT-BACKED stores selling produce at less than market prices will carry P20-per-kilo rice starting May 2, days before the midterm elections, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
“High-quality” rice will be sold at P20 per kilo to selected beneficiaries at KADIWA centers or by local government units (LGUs), the DA said.
Eligible purchasers include “indigents, senior citizens, solo parents, and persons with disabilities,” the DA said. They will be entitled to purchase 30 kilos per month.
The rice will be procured by Food Terminal, Inc. from the National Food Authority (NFA), which holds reserves of 7.56 million bags, the DA said.
The NFA’s five-year high reserve level is equivalent to 10 days’ demand.
For the pilot run, participating LGUs that help pay for the subsidy may make the rice available to all households in their community regardless of whether they belong to the vulnerable segments of society, according to DA.
It did not say which outlets will offer P20, but said LGUs in the Visayas and selected locations like San Juan City, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, Camarines Sur, and Mati, Davao Oriental have joined the program.
Hansley A. Juliano, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila, said the the new initiative — just a few days after the DA announced the P20 rice pilot program in the Visayas — may be an effort by the Marcos administration to gain more support ahead of the May 12 midterm elections.
“This feels like ‘cramming the submission,’” he said via chat.
Mr. Marcos ran on a campaign promise to bring the price of rice down to P20 per kilo.
“If they could have genuinely done it as a policy, why (launch it) on the eve of elections?” Mr. Juliano said.
OCTA Research Fellow Fredegusto P. David said the rush to implement the P20 rice program may still have an impact on voting preferences.
“Maybe around 20% of voters will put this in their consideration,” he said, noting that socio-economic classes D and E are “particularly likely to be influenced” by the rice initiative and other similar programs.
The DA said the new initiative for KADIWA markets “aligns” with its food security emergency declaration.
The emergency, declared in late January, allows the NFA to release stocks to government agencies, LGUs, and KADIWA markets.
In the face of rising costs, the government has also imposed a maximum suggested retail price for rice.
“With world market prices now averaging just $300 per metric ton — down from a high of over $700 — and with NFA buffer stocks at their strongest in years, we felt the conditions were finally right to launch,” Agriculture Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. said.
Prices of rice in Metro Manila markets ranged from P39.99 to P58.17 per kilo from April 21 to April 24, according to DA price monitors.
The Commission on Elections has exempted the P20 rice program from the spending ban in force ahead of the polls.
IBON Foundation over the weekend said the program is unsustainable, urging the government to prioritize programs that raise farm productivity.
The DA said NFA Administrator Larry Lacson has directed his procurement staff to purchase as much palay (unmilled rice) as possible at P18 to P24 per kilo “to help boost farmers’ incomes.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza