P20 rice sold in Bacoor public market

July 3 ------ PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led the rollout of the Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na! initiative to make rice affordable to the poor at the Zapote Public Market in Bacoor, Cavite. The program, which sells rice at P20 per kilo to indigents, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents and low-income households, is carried out by the Department of Agriculture and the National Food Authority (NFA).

The lower-priced rice is available in designated Kadiwa ng Pangulo outlets across Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Mimaropa.

The DA’s Food Terminal Inc. buys rice from the NFA and sells it through the Kadiwa ng Pangulo network and other participants in the program. The initiative is in line with the President’s commitment to stabilize rice prices, empower farmers and ensure that no Filipino is left behind, Malacañang said.

A total of 500 sacks of rice were procured by the NFA from local farmers and delivered through the DA’s Kadiwa ng Pangulo outlet at the Zapote-Bacoor Public Market. The allotment is enough for 2,500 residents to purchase 10 kilos each at the subsidized price of P20 a kilo. With 94 outlets established nationwide so far, the Benteng Bigas Meron Na! program will be expanded to key urban centers, including those outside Metro Manila, to reach 15 million beneficiaries by next year.

In May, Marcos guaranteed his administration would be able to sustain the program until his last day in office in 2028. “Watch me sustain it. And then, we’ll talk in May of 2028, if it happened or not. We found a way to do it. We could not do it before. We couldn’t because there was no system yet. The price of rice was different then,” he said in a previous interview. The Chief Executive added that the DA is continuously negotiating with different countries to source the food staple to add to the locally produced stock and sell it cheap in the local market.

Source: manilatimes.net 

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