The Department of Agriculture (DA) rolls out today the Kadiwa ng Pangulo’s Rice-for-All program that will sell lower priced rice in select public markets in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The project, which is in partnership with Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), will involve the deployment of kiosks selling the staple food grain in major public markets, including Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) stations, the DA said in a briefing in Quezon City yesterday.
“These kiosks will offer Rice-for-All at an affordable price of P40 per kg, available from Tuesdays to Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” said DA assistant secretary Genevieve Guevarra.
Guevarra, who is also head of the Kadiwa program, said the DA will first deploy kiosks in public markets in Guadalupe in Mandaluyong City, Kamuning in Quezon City, Malabon Central, New Las Piñas City and Pasay City.
Kiosks will also be set up at the MRT North Avenue station and LRT Monumento station.
The DA said talks are ongoing with the possible deployment of the program in private markets, including Balintawak Cloverleaf in Quezon City, Cartimar in Pasay, Grace Marketplace in Pateros, Maypajo in Quezon City and Paco in Manila.
The DA said the rice being offered under the program was initially priced at P45 per kg before it was reduced to P43 and to the present P40 per kg.
Guevarra said there will be no limit to the volume that can be purchased by the public as rice supply of kiosks will be replenished.
Neither would there be a cap to the volume that can be purchased at the kiosks, said Arnel de Mesa, DA assistant secretary and spokesperson, noting it would not be wise to hoard the supply as the program will soon be launched in more markets, even those outside Metro Manila.
The five public markets were prioritized as the locations were noted to have elevated rice retail prices, he added.
He also expressed confidence the program will be sustainable as FTI buys the rice supply sold at Kadiwa stores at a cost of P37 to P38 per kg, with additional expenses for packaging and logistics.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. ordered the deployment of Kadiwa ng Pangulo kiosks to major public markets to force rice retailers and unscrupulous traders who refuse to pass onto consumers the benefit of lower rice prices.
“We plan to expand this program to other parts of the country where prices of rice remain high, a situation that borders on profiteering,” Tiu Laurel recently said.
The government earlier approved an additional budget of P5 billion to support the P29 per kg rice sold to Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries, elderly, solo parents and persons with special needs as well as the subsidized rice under the Rice-for-All program.
Based on DA’s monitoring of public markets in the NCR, the price as of last Saturday of local well-milled rice is between P42 and P53 per kg and regular milled, P40 to P48 per kg.
Imported well milled rice is priced at P42 to P54 per kg, while imported regular milled rice costs P40 to P51 per kg.
Imported rice ranges from P55 to P63 for the special variety and P51 to P62 for premium. For local rice, the special variety costs P58 to P61 per kg and premium, P50 to P58 per kg.
