President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s campaign promise to bring down the cost of rice to P20 per kilo is hard to achieve at this time with the lack of budgetary support to the agriculture sector, outgoing Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said on Tuesday, June 14.

“Given the whole setup, that would be difficult...They have already admitted that it is hard to attain right now). Because if you want to rbing down the price of rice to P20, then you have to bring down the cost of production of rice,” Pangilinan said in an interview on ANC’s Headstart.

Other than the cost of production, Pangilinan said the government has to consider the reasons why the cost of production is high. One of this is irrigation, the rest is about wastage, transport and also, the quality of seeds.

“So it’s not as simple as bringing it down per se because you really have to increase your budgetary support and increase the productivity of your farmers,” he said.

Apart from this, the senator also said there is clearly a need for additional support to farmers in terms of pesticides, fertilizers, access to the market, and milling, among others.

“Sa atin (for us), doubling the agriculture budget with the end and view of improving production and incomes of our farmers and fisherfolk is the way to go,” he stressed.

Marcos Jr. in an interview last May said that bringing down the price of rice to P20 per kilo is an “aspiration” and targe of his administration without sacrificing the earnings of local farmers.

The President-elect said one way to do it is to fix the value chain to achieve a long-term mechanism.

Last week, incoming Agrarian Reform secretary Conrado Estrella III had also said Marcos’ promise of a P20 per kilogram rice is difficult to achieve at this time due to the high cost of fuel and fertilizers.