Kadiwa centers to start selling P20/kilo rice on May 2

Select Kadiwa centers will start selling affordable P20/kg rice on May 2.  (File photo by RAFFY LERMA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines – Select Kadiwa centers will start selling the P20 per kilo rice on May 2, about a week after the Marcos administartion’s ‘Bente Bigas Mo’ project was rolled out in the Visayas, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

DA said in a statement, however, that the “high-quality” P20/kilo rice “will be available only to indigents, senior citizens, solo parents, and persons with disabilities.”

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Beneficiaries can purchase up to 30 kg of rice a month, it added.

“The new rice option aligns with the ‘Bente Bigas Mo’ pilot program in the Visayas and in the 10 local government units (LGUs) that have joined the initiative, where NFA rice is sold at P33 per kilo due to the national food security emergency,” said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

LGUs include San Juan City in Metro Manila, San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, Camarines Sur and Mati City in Davao Oriental.