The sale of rice at P20 a kilo under the government’s food security emergency program is expected to start next week if the local government units have complied with the required documents, a Department of Agriculture (DA) official said Tuesday, April 29.
Senior citizens, persons with disabilities, indigents and those under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program can avail of the P20 per kilo rice, DA Regional Director Jose Albert Barrogo of the Negros Island Region, said.
Under the program to be implemented in the Visayas each family can buy 10 kilos of the P20 rice per week, he said.
The Food Terminal Incorporated will buy rice from the National Food Authority at P33 per kilo. The P13 difference will then be subsidized by the Department of Agriculture and local government unit, he said.
Barrogo said the Negros Occidental and Bacolod City are participating in the program.
It is not yet clear how long the program will last but the initial plan is until 2028, he said.
He assured that the rice to be sold through the LGUs will be zero to 3 months old.
They are currently assisting the LGUs in processing the paperwork with Food Terminal Inc., he said.*