MANILA — The Department of Agriculture on Thursday assured the public that rice the government will sell in the Visayas at P20 per kilogram will be of good quality and not, as Vice President Sara Duterte projects, fit only for animal feed.

Duterte this week cast doubt on the planned limited sale of P20/kg rice — a campaign promise by the now dissolved UniTeam with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — saying the National Food Authority might provide low quality rice.

Farmers’ groups have meanwhile called the move an election campaign gimmick by the government.

“[T]he Department of Agriculture family is deeply hurt by her suggestion that NFA rice to be sold is 'hindi pang tao, pang hayop’ (not for people, but for animals),” said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., who also chairs the NFA Council, said in a statement.

He said the DA is “fully committed” to ensuring the quality of the rice sold under the program, which, he said, the NFA is mandated to buy from Filipino farmers.

“Saying the rice that NFA distributes is animal feed is an affront to the quality of rice our millions of hardworking farmers produce,” he also said.

Under the program, which the government will roll out in the Visayas for eventual implementation nationwide, families will get to buy a maximum of 10 kg a week, or 40 kg a month, at a subsidized price of P20 per kilogram.

The Palace has clarified that the rice to be sold will be the same that is currently sold at P33/kg.

Agri dept to sell P20/kilo rice in Visayas

‘ELECTORAL GIMMICKRY’

In a separate release, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women called the P20/kg rice program an “electoral gimmick, aimed at deflecting criticism and pacifying growing unrest and discontent from the public and among Duterte loyalists.”

They said government must repeal the Rice Tariffication Law — the law that removed import limits on rice, subjecting them instead to tariffs meant to keep local rice competitive — and spend on improving local production to bring rice prices down.

Citing its own research, KMP said rice prices actually went up and farmers’ incomes went down after rice imports were liberalized.

Anti-poverty commission says programs to alleviate hunger focused on Visayas

“For rice farmers, the result has been catastrophic. In 2023, the average net income per hectare fell to P27,085—the lowest in nearly two decades,” the groups said.

“Government resources must be redirected toward revitalizing local production through genuine land reform, rural development, and food sovereignty,” they also said.

“Until then, every ‘cheap rice’ announcement will remain what it truly is: an insult to the dignity and survival of Filipino farmers and consumers alike.” 

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