By Mariela Angella Oladive
The initial rollout of the PHP20-per-kilo rice program in Iloilo will focus on families with undernourished children.
Gov. Arthur R. Defensor Jr. signed Executive Order No. 040, Series of 2025, on Monday, April 28, officially launching the “Siguradong Pagkain, Tiyak na Galing-Kalusugan (SiPag at TiyaGa) for MoRProGRes sa Bagong Pilipinas” program.
Section 3 of the order outlines the P20/Kilo Rice Para sa Bayan (RPB@20) initiative, fulfilling a key campaign promise of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. during the 2022 elections to make rice more affordable for vulnerable sectors and strengthen food security.
The program will be implemented with support from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, and other partners.
The initial subsidy will target households with children enrolled in the provincial Adequate Food Production, Rehabilitation of Malnutrition (ART) Response program.
“For now, the most viable and reasonable option is to focus on those who are hungry. At least in the short term, we can afford it, so our target is the ART response,” Defensor said.
“We know who they are, and we know where they are, because we have already provided assistance to these families in the past,” he added.
This includes households with children aged 0 to 59 months classified as undernourished based on the Department of Health’s Operation Timbang Plus survey, which found more than 11,700 undernourished children in the province in 2024.
The provincial government will allocate PHP19 million for the initial subsidy to procure rice from the National Food Authority, priced at PHP33 per kilo.
A joint subsidy from the national and local governments, each contributing PHP6.50 per kilo, will reduce the price to PHP20 per kilo.
Eligible families can purchase up to 10 kilograms of rice per week, totaling 40 kilograms per month, at the subsidized rate.
Rice will be available through KADIWA ng Pangulo Centers, Bigasan ng Barangay outlets, and other authorized government-run stores across the province.
The program is expected to begin in the coming months, with the subsidy lasting until December 2025 and potentially extending through February 2026, with a directive from the president to sustain it until 2028.
“This is just one component and a short-term response. Since our long-term response is still in development, we’re not really in a position for rushed implementation. There are many considerations,” Defensor emphasized.
He cited challenges such as logistical requirements, procurement processes, and funding that must be addressed before full-scale implementation.
Defensor also noted that RPB@20 complements the recent Department of Agriculture Circular No. 03, Series of 2025, which declared a food security emergency due to rising rice prices.
Meanwhile, National Food Authority-Region 6 Regional Manager Jasmin Lintag assured that the agency has adequate rice stocks for the program.
“We have an 18-day buffer stock, and our warehouses are well-supplied. We currently have 105,000 bags of 50 kilograms of NFA rice, along with 1.5 million bags of palay. In Region 6, we have many warehouses—21 in total—and around 60 to 85 percent of them are full,” she said.
She added that the rice is of good quality, well-milled, and freshly milled.
Other components of the executive order include long-term initiatives for food and health security, such as the System Enhancement for Rice to Booster, Increase, and Sustain Yields Onwards (SERBISYO) project, which aims to intensify hybrid rice farming.
The order also emphasizes strengthening nutrition initiatives, including improving food production, addressing malnutrition, and enhancing the capacity of nutrition workers across the province.
Additionally, financial assistance programs from national and local agencies, such as AICS (Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation), AKAP, and TUPAD, may be leveraged to support ART Response target families, depending on available funding.
