P29/kilo rice at 23 Kadiwa outlets by August

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said that P29 per kilo rice will be available in 23 Kadiwa outlets by Aug. 1, including in three provincial areas outside Luzon.

“This week we’re already up to 13 Kadiwa outlets. By August 1, hopefully we will have 23 stores plus three provincial areas. We will have one in Cebu, maybe Maguindanao. Then as we go along, we will widen the coverage and may even try to lessen (the price) of the P29 rice in Kadiwa stores nationwide, hopefully by the first quarter of next year,” Tiu Laurel said.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) increased the Kadiwa stores selling P29 per kilo rice to 13 outlets, from the original 10 centers, starting last Friday during its second week of implementation.

Tiu Laurel said that the P29 per kilo rice will continue to be sourced from the aging stocks of the National Food Authority (NFA).

The 13 Kadiwa outlets sell P29 per kilo rice every Friday, Saturday and Sunday to vulnerable households that include members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), solo parents, senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

According to the DA, the rice produced under the National Irrigation Administration’s contract-growing arrangement with rice farmers will eventually supplement supply from NFA to sustain the P29 rice program.

Tiu Laurel said that the P29 rice program aims to provide for around 6.9 million vulnerable households, equal to around 34 million Filipinos.

The 13 Kadiwa stores include the ones at Bureau of Plant Industry compound in Manila; Bureau of Animal Industry and National Irrigation Administration in Quezon City; Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig; Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority in Las Piñas; Barangay 167 in Caloocan; Brgy. Fortune and BFCT in Marikina; Nangka, Marikina; Disiplina Village in Valenzuela, Malabon Navotas; and Minuyan proper in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary and spokesman Arnel de Mesa has maintained that the sale of P29 per kilo rice is not a political move, ahead of the State of the Nation Address of President Marcos on July 22.

Farmers’ group Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. president Danilo Fausto has said that the DA is giving false hope to the poor by selling rice at P29 per kilo in Kadiwa outlets.

Fausto added that the move is not sustainable since the DA’s subsidy is pegged at P20 per kilo or at P220 million per day.

De Mesa added that the Rice-for-All will be available to the Kadiwa stores where general consumers can buy well-milled rice between P45 and P48 per kilo, lower than prevailing market prices.