More Kadiwa stores to sell P29/kilo rice

MANILA, Philippines —  Rice at P29 per kilo will be available at more Kadiwa centers beginning this Friday with the official rollout of the “Bigas 29” program of the Department of Agriculture, according to a ranking DA official.

“We will announce on Thursday the improvement and evolution of this ‘Bigas 29.’ On Friday, we will visit select Kadiwa centers for this project,” DA Assistant Secretary and spokesman Arnel de Mesa said at a press conference yesterday.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has announced that the National Food Authority Council, which he chairs, has approved the recommendation to sell aging but good NFA rice stocks at P29 per kilo through Kadiwa stores.

De Mesa, however, clarified that the P29-per-kilo rice sold at Kadiwa stores will not only come from the NFA inventory.

“The P29 will be for vulnerable sectors. We will announce on Thursday the program for the general public,” De Mesa added.

By vulnerable sectors, he meant persons with disabilities, solo parents, senior citizens and indigenous peoples, who collectively comprise 6.9 million households.

The agriculture official noted that the P29 per kilo rice was initially available in three Kadiwa outlets.

“There will be improvement from the present, but I cannot disclose yet the additional number of Kadiwa (stores),” he said.

He added that the P29 per kilo rice would be available not only in Metro Manila, but also in other areas nationwide.

Aside from rice, other agricultural products will be available at Kadiwa centers, according to De Mesa.

“It will include agri fisheries, more improved Kadiwa,” he said after a majority of the Kadiwa centers became inactive for more than a year.

Tiu Laurel has said that each beneficiary household of the P29 per kilo rice is entitled to purchase 10 kilos per month, requiring rice supply of 69,000 metric tons every month.

The implementation of the P29 per kilo rice will cost the government between P1.39 billion and P1.53 billion per month, according to the agriculture chief.

He said that to secure rice supply for the initiative, the DA plans to import 363,697 metric tons of rice to augment national buffer stocks, while the NFA will procure 559,535 metric tons of palay from local farmers.

He added that securing rice buffer stocks to cover 19 days of national consumption would cost at least P28.39 billion.

TRO vs EO 62

Meanwhile, De Mesa warned the public that a prolonged temporary restraining order (TRO) against Executive Order 62 on reduced tariff on imported rice could affect the country’s overall stock of the staple after farmers’ groups said they are bent on filing a petition for an injunction against the 15-percent tariff before the Supreme Court (SC).

“The worry of Secretary (Tiu Laurel Jr.) is that if there will be TRO, importers will not import. There will be delays (in the arrivals of imported rice). We will have problems in the stocks if this TRO will continue,” he said at the same press conference.

Farmers’ groups vowed to ask the SC to stop the implementation of the EO that allows a 15-percent tariff on imported rice, down from the current 35 percent, until 2028.

“Imported rice will not arrive as scheduled. We don’t know until when the TRO will be implemented, so we will have problems with the overall stock,” De Mesa said.

He added that the DA is preparing for any eventuality to prevent a possible shortage of the grains.

“We still have local stocks and the level of importation is high. As of the first week of June, we have 2.2 million metric tons of (imported rice),” he said.

Rice importers will have reservations in importing rice if the lower tariff will not be implemented, according to the DA official.

“The importers will have second thoughts if they don’t know if the tariff will go down to 15 percent or will remain at 35 percent,” he said.

De Mesa also noted that the retail price of rice remains stable between P48 and P52 per kilo for regular and well-milled rice, based on the DA’s monitoring.

Local well-milled rice is sold for as high as P55 per kilo; local premium rice, P58 per kilo; local special rice, P65 per kilo; imported regular milled rice, P51 per kilo; imported well-milled rice, P55 per kilo; imported premium rice, P62 per kilo and imported special rice, P65 per kilo.