THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is accelerating the rollout of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s flagship food security program “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!,” which aims to provide rice at P20 per kilo to 15 million households by 2026.
On August 29, the DA will include fisherfolk to the growing list of beneficiaries of the affordable rice program.
The affordable rice program was originally limited to senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents and indigents. It was recently 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.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. 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, scaling up will require “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, referring to the P10-billion increase in rice program funding under the 2026 national budget.
The initiative has received overwhelming public support, despite some criticism—particularly from farmers questioning why they, too, are being offered discounted rice.
“Some called it insulting,” Tiu Laurel said. “But on the ground, demand told a different story. In just one day, 29 tons were sold to farmers in only two regions.”
In the three days since the launch of the Benteng Bigas, Meron Na para sa mga Magsasaka, a total 70 metric tons of rice sourced from the National Food Authority has been sold to rice farmers and farm workers, data for the Food Terminal Inc. showed.
The DA now plans to extend P20 rice access to fishing communities nationwide by month’s end, starting at fish ports. Weekly provincial rollouts will also continue in areas with active NFA depots through the end of the year.
President Marcos has directed the DA to sustain the subsidized rice program until the end of his term in June 2028
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