The Department of Agriculture (DA) has guaranteed the high quality of rice sold for P20 per kilo under its rice subsidy program.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement on Sunday he recently met with regional managers and key officials of the National Food Authority (NFA) to make sure that the DA and NFA can deliver high quality rice to vulnerable sectors eligible to buy the P20/kg rice.
Considered the vulnerable sectors of consumers are the solo parents, persons with disabilities, senior citizens and beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program.
Tiu Laurel, who also chairs the NFA Council, said that this subsidized rice program has presented an opportunity for the agency to change the long-standing perception of the NFA rice being of poor quality.
“This is our chance to change how people view NFA rice… We want to show that the rice we provide to those in need is not only affordable, but also tasty, nutritious, and just as good as, if not better than, some imported varieties,” Tiu Laurel explained.
He also emphasized that the initiative would highlight the quality of rice grown by Filipino farmers. The opportunity to showcase quality Filipino rice has been found through the Rice Tariffication Law, which provided that NFA would no longer import rice for buffer stocking and would only purchase palay from local farmers to support domestic production and ensure fair pricing, Tiu Laurel said.
Rice sold under the P20/kg subsidized rice program for vulnerable groups are sourced to the NFA.
Tiu Laurel added that to further support local farmers, he instructed NFA managers to identify areas where traders have been purchasing rice at extremely low prices, to allow the agency to extend its procurement efforts during the next harvest season and prevent unscrupulous traders from exploiting farmers.
The DA also said that the NFA has been working to increase its fleet of trucks and expand storage and drying capacities to purchase more rice from farmers, especially in hard-to-reach areas.
The NFA has been allocated over P9.8 billion for palay procurement in 2025, which will enable it to buy palay to produce 5 million 50-kg bags of rice.
The DA said that as of May 18, the NFA had an inventory equivalent to 8 million 50-kg bags of rice, with half of the stock bought during the first four months of 2025.
Based on the DA’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, local well-milled rice sold for P40 to P50 per kg last Thursday, May 15, while regular milled rice went for P35 to P43 per kg.
Imported well-milled rice was selling for P38 to P48 per kg while the prices of imported regular milled rice ranged from P35 to P45 per kg.
Special-variety imported rice fetched P52 to P65 and premium rice, P43 to P55.
Special-variety local rice was selling for P50 to P65 per kg while premium rice went for P44 to P60 per kg.
These varieties are priced based on market forces or factors and are not subsidized.
