Fisherfolk set to join P20 rice beneficiary list

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said the beneficiary list of P20-per-kilo rice program will be expanded this month to include fisherfolk.

The DA said the rice will start to go on sale at fishports by the end of the month.

“Weekly provincial rollouts will also continue in areas with active NFA (National Food Authority) depots through the end of the year,” it said in a statement on Monday.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said the rice program is the DA’s “biggest challenge” that still needs “full support” from the government. The subsidized-rice program currently benefits nearly 400,000 families.

“We have the stocks. We have the budget. What we need now is urgency and unity,” he said, referring to the P10-billion increase in rice program funding under the 2026 national budget.

The program was originally limited to senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents and indigents. It was recently expanded to minimum wage earners, beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Walang Gutom program, and farmers and farm workers enrolled in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza