Since the Marcos administration announced its program to sell rice at P20 per kilo and only in the Visayas, the whole nation has been abuzz with nothing but the issue of affordable rice.
The Visayas is composed of four regions: Eastern Visayas, Western Visayas, Central Visayas and the Negros island. Poverty is prevalent in the Visayas, but it also exists in Luzon, and is seriously concerning in Mindanao and Sulu.
Why only in the Visayas will Bongbong Marcos fulfill his two-year-old campaign promise to bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilo?
Vloggers and plain netizens have seen through the ruse—this is nothing but a part of election tactics.
The Alyansa 12 which was reduced in number has had rough sailing in its campaign sorties in Mindanao. My friend Toto Causing pointed out that after a failed political rally in Davao and sensing that they were disliked by the people, Bongbong’s alliance decided to concentrate on other islands. But in the Visayas, particularly in vote-rich Cebu, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia reportedly decided to advise the President not to speak before the crowd, for fear of being booed.
That is the reason why Toby Tiangco’s team has lately been making its appearance only in Luzon.
The campaign probably realized that the millions of pesos in cash “ayuda” are not enough. Give them or sell to them rice at twenty pesos a kilo. That should earn us votes, or so they thought.
This tact was undermined and disputed so easily by Vice President Sara Duterte of the opposition.
Sara had said that the rice to be distributed came from the old stock of the National Food Authority (NFA) and is of low quality that people cannot eat it. The VP said the grain is only good as animal feed.
This led Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., chairman of the NFA Council, to say that the Department of Agriculture family is deeply hurt by her suggestion that the NFA rice to be sold is 'hindi pang tao, pang hayop’ (not for people, but for animals).”
He said the DA is “fully committed” to ensuring the quality of the rice sold under the program, which, he said, the NFA is mandated to buy from Filipino farmers.
“Saying the rice that NFA distributes is animal feed is an affront to the quality of rice our millions of hardworking farmers produce,” he also said.
Under the program, which the government will roll out in the Visayas for eventual implementation nationwide, families will get to buy a maximum of 10 kg a week, or 40 kg a month, at a subsidized price of P20 per kilogram.
The Palace has clarified that the rice to be sold will be the same that is currently sold at P33/kg.
We will know the truth when this rice is finally made available in the market. But then, we will have to ask our Visayan friends about it, since we ordinary people in Luzon, particularly Metro Manila, will have to fly to Iloilo, Cebu or Leyte to know the answer.
The trouble with the government is that they turn a deaf ear on the plight and complaints of rice farmers.
They wanted Congress to repeal the Rice Tariffication Law — the law that removed import limits on rice, subjecting them instead to tariffs meant to keep local rice competitive — and spend on improving local production to bring rice prices down.
The trouble with this law is that President Bongbong Marcos watered it down when he reduced the tariff on rice, flooding the market with cheap imports, to the detriment of our own farmers.
Indeed rice has become a potent election issue this May 12, 2025.
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