Senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents and indigents may now buy up to 30 kilograms of rice per month for P29 a kilo under the subsidized rice program of the Department of Agriculture’s National Food Authority (DA NFA), the agency announced in a statement on Sunday.
The DA has in effect tripled the monthly rice allocation for vulnerable sectors in its subsidized program, from 10 kg to 30 kg each.
It has reiterated that the vulnerable sectors who can avail of subsidized rice from the NFA’s buffer stocks are senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents and indigents.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. announced the “immediate” implementation of the new policy nationwide in Kadiwa rolling stores and centers found in markets and selected train stations.
“We urge you to take advantage of this new policy, which responds to the calls from our financially-challenged fellow citizens for greater access to more affordable food, especially rice,” the DA secretary said in the statement.
The agency deems the expanded rice benefit for vulnerable sectors as “crucial” in helping low-income Filipinos get through the day, considering that rice accounts for roughly P9 to P18 of every P100 spent by a Filipino consumer daily, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
The DA first launched the P29 program in July 2024 to provide affordable rice to vulnerable sectors.
Since then, the agency has further widened local rice options with the introduction of the Rice-for-All (RFA) program, which allows all consumers to buy unlimited amounts of rice at reduced prices at Kadiwa rolling stores.
Current rice prices under the RFA are at P43 per kg for rice with 5 percent broken grains, P35 per kg for rice with 25 percent broken grains, and P33 per kg for 100 percent broken grains.
Meanwhile, based on the DA’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, local well-milled rice sold for P40 to P53 per kg on Thursday, while regular milled rice went for P33 to P48 per kg.
Imported well-milled rice was selling for P44 to P46 per kg while the price of imported regular milled rice ranged from P33 to P45 per kg.
Special-variety imported rice fetched P50 to P60 a kilo and premium rice, P48 to P51.
Special variety local rice was selling for P53 to P64 per kg while premium rice went for P45 to P60 per kg.
