THE Department of Agriculture (DA) wants a two-tier pricing scheme for the National Food Authority’s (NFA) rice that will allow the government to sustain its P20 rice program.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. is proposing an 80:20 pricing structure for the grains agency’s rice stocks, aimed at raising profits that will subsidize its cheaper rice program for eligible participants.
“The idea is to sell [20 percent of rice stocks] as P20 and then sell the remaining 80 percent at a profit for P40 to P42,” Laurel told reporters on the sidelines of the post-State of the Nation Address forum in San Juan City on Tuesday.
However, he noted that full implementation of this framework requires amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).
Such a move would bolster the agency’s power in regulating rice importation, particularly during harvest, and the NFA’s restoring power to intervene in the local market, including licensing rice retailers and selling rice directly to the public.
“The RTL should be amended because technically the NFA cannot sell rice as of the moment. We’re still under a [food security] emergency, that’s why we can [sell rice],” Laurel said.
The DA chief noted that President Marcos has allocated P18 billion to expand the government’s P20 per kilo rice program.
He explained that about P8 billion of the allocation is secured through existing rice stocks managed by the NFA.
The remaining P10 billion is earmarked for palay procurement from local farmers next year to sustain the rice program and extend the service even to middle-income households, he added.
The cheaper rice program’s budget is different from the P9-billion palay procurement budget of the NFA for 2026 under the soon-to-be filed proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA) for next year.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez has filed House Bill (HB) 1, known as the RICE Act, which seeks to empower the DA and the NFA to better manage the rice industry and authorize the agency to set a minimum floor price for palay to safeguard farmers’ incomes.
Laurel clarified that without an enabling law, a floor price would be a hurdle to implement.
“Unfortunately, it seems like the floor price this upcoming harvest season in September won’t happen because it takes a law […] but we’ll find a way to make it happen.”
Meanwhile, the DA chief said the agency will begin the sale of P20 per kilo rice to local farmers by August 13.
This will be available through the setup of Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) booths in respective NFA warehouses nationwide, he added.
“That’s one aid amid the slump in palay prices now, because at least they can avail themselves of cheaper rice,” Laurel said.
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