The flagship food program of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.—Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!—is sweeping across the nation, bringing affordable rice to millions of Filipinos who need it most.
Before the year ends, the Department of Agriculture (DA) expects the P20-per-kilo rice program to be available in all 81 provinces, fulfilling a campaign promise to put food security within reach for the country’s most vulnerable families.
“We are already in 81 provinces at the end of October, leaving only Tawi-Tawi as the last province where the DA has yet to plant the BBM Na! flag,” said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.
“When we launched the program in May, our modest target was 136 sites in 13 provinces. Today, we have 427 sites nationwide.”
“When we launched the program in May, our modest target was 136 sites in 13 provinces. Today, we have 427 sites nationwide—with two months still to go,” Tiu Laurel added.
These 427 sites—which also sells the food staple under the Rice-for-All program—already serve about 1.2 million Filipinos, of which 723,000 are direct beneficiaries of the P20-per-kilo rice, collectively purchasing 8.5 million kilos of the staple between May and October.
In November, the DA will open new P20-rice sites in Aklan, Capiz, Catanduanes, Davao Oriental, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Sarangani, and Sulu.
In November, the DA will open new P20-rice sites in Aklan, Capiz, Catanduanes, Davao Oriental, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Sarangani, and Sulu. Sites in Tawi-Tawi are scheduled to open in December.
Envisioned to uplift vulnerable sectors—senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents, indigenous peoples, and low-income earners—the P20 rice program now also covers farmers and fisherfolk, public transport workers, and beneficiaries of the DSWD’s Walang Gutom initiative.
Tiu Laurel said this year’s rollout serves as a preparatory run to address logistical and supply challenges as the DA scales up distribution to reach 15 million households—or about 60 million Filipinos—by 2026.
