The Department of Agriculture (DA) said Tuesday that the P20-Kilo subsidized rice plan will utilize President Jr. Ferdinand R. Marcos’ emergency fund.
offiThe president's CE has authorized the release of 5 billion pesos from its emergency foundation to the Food Terminal Company (FTI), which will purchase from the National Food Administration (NFA) to local government departments (LGUS) and government-backed Kadiwa network, a farm secret Francesco tiu laurel, JR.
He added that FTI will spend 4.5 billion pesos to buy rice and the remaining 500 million pesos will be used for logistics and packaging.
The P20 RICE program, which was launched for the first time on the pilot basis, will also be launched at the Kadiwa store, DA said on Monday.
The NFA is currently selling rice at a price of p33 per kilogram at a food security emergency intensity announced in late January. Assuming the profitable price is P45, it loses P12 per kilogram. Then, LGUS does not have to raise the mark or resell NFA rice at a price of p35 p35 per kilogram.
Mr. Laurel said that at NFA rice price P33, FTI and LGU will have to pay P6.50 to close the P13 gap.
This means that the participating LGU is also expected to contribute about 4.5 billion pesos to the subsidy.
Mr Laurel said selling rice at a price of P20 per kilogram would cost the government 1.2 billion 1.2 billion pounds.
However, NFA stocks did not move because LGU did not place orders nearly three months after the emergency announcement of rice.
He compared the program to “transfer sales” and noted that if NFA shares (estimated 370,000 metric tons) are not sold for a long time, it could be forced to sell inventory at a lower price.
Mr Laurel said LGU was reluctant to buy NFA shares in the face of falling prices around the world, prompting some commercial retailers to offer rice at lower than the NFA prices.
“If we can't sell them and they rot in our warehouses, they lose value. We try to sell them at the price of P33. It didn't catch it because the rice prices in retail are also falling.”
The average price of rice is $300 per metric tonne, which is below the price above $700, the DA said on Monday.
NFA inventory rises to fiAs of April 24, the annual height of VE was equivalent to 7.5650 kilometers of rice.
According to DA Price Monitor, rice prices in the Metro Manila market range from P39.99 to P58.17 between April 21 and April 24.
Mr Laurel said Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and India subsidize rice and the Philippines may be able to do the same in 2024 if the NFA has enough stocks.
Mr Laurel said the government may launch the P20 Rice program nationwide by January.
He said a pilot program must be conducted “at least six months” to determine whether the program is feasible for national implementation.
Ferdinand R.
Mishaya's pilot run will begin in Cebu on May 1.
Laurel said last week that Mishaya was selected as a pilot due to its poverty rate, surpassing the national average by 10.9%.
The program targets P20 rice for about 400,000 households, including some of the most vulnerable social areas.
The initial eight Kadiwa stores in and around Metro Manila will also start their own pilot runs on May 2.
Meanwhile, Mr Laurel clarified that although the initiative has exempted the election spending ban, the participating LGU still needs to request exemptions. – Kyle Aristopher T. Atienza
