President Marcos reaffirmed that the government’s P20 rice program, dubbed “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na,” is not a one-off rollout but a sustainable initiative that will expand nationwide with the support of local government units.

“Tuloy-tuloy na po ito (This will continue),” the President said in his vlog released on Sunday, July 6.

“Twenty-peso rice is here to stay. It is achievable. It is sustainable,” he added.

Marcos said the program, now available in select Kadiwa stores and public markets, provides affordable and quality rice, especially to vulnerable sectors.

“Parami nang parami na ang ating mga location... sa pagtutulungan ng maraming ahensya ng national government at ng local government (We are adding more and more locations… through the cooperation of many national government agencies and local government),” he said.

Meanwhile, the President also dispelled concerns that the low price of rice would drive down the farmgate prices of palay.

“Hindi po totoo ‘yan. Meron po tayong minimum buying price (That’s not true. We have a minimum buying price),” he said, citing current rates set by the National Food Authority (NFA): P18 per kilo for wet palay, and P19 to P23 for dried palay.

“Kahit ano pa ang maging presyo ng bigas, hindi po bababa dito ang pagbili ng NFA sa palay mula sa ating mga magsasaka (No matter what the market price of rice is, the NFA will not buy palay from our farmers below this rate),” he added.

To ensure farmers are not forced to sell at disadvantageous prices, Marcos said the government is distributing rice dryers and building more processing facilities so they can dry and store their palay and negotiate better.

“Daan-daan na ang mga dryer para ‘yung farmer meron na siyang dryer... hindi siya mapipilitan maipagbili ‘yung kanyang palay kung anuman ang presyo na binibigay sa kanya ng trader (We’re rolling out hundreds of dryers so farmers have access to drying equipment… they won’t be forced to sell their palay at whatever price the trader offers),” he said.

“Ang dahilan kung bakit kayang baratin ng mga trader... dahil wala silang mga processing (The reason traders can bargain down the prices… is because farmers don’t have processing facilities),” he noted.

Malacañang earlier vowed to go after rice traders using the government’s P20 per kilo rice program to justify buying palay at unreasonably low prices, saying the act could be considered economic sabotage.

In addition to protecting farmers, President Marcos said the administration is investing in modernizing agriculture to make the industry more attractive to younger Filipinos.

“Ang sagot ko, teknolohiya (My answer is technology). We must use technology,” he said when asked how to entice the youth to consider careers in farming.

The President cited the rollout of state-of-the-art mobile soil laboratories and large-capacity rice processing plants as examples.

“Lalo na ngayon panahon ng climate change, talagang apektado ang sigla ng ating lupain (Especially now in this time of climate change, the health of our soil is really affected),” he explained.

Marcos reiterated that building a strong food supply chain—from the field to the market—is a key pillar of his administration’s development plan.

“Maaasahang supply at masustansyang pagkain, ‘yan ang magiging ani ng isang matibay na sistemang agrikultura (A reliable supply and nutritious food—those will be the harvest of a strong agricultural system),” he said.

“Titiyakin ng pamahalaan na maayos ang pagtakbo, para sagana sa pagkain ang hapagkainan ng bawat pamilyang Pilipino (The government will ensure smooth operations so that every Filipino family’s table is abundant with food),” he added.