Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel defended Program 29, which sells rice for Php 29 per kilo, after its sustainability was brought into question.
Criticisms
This statement was made in response to Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc's President Danilo Fausto saying the cheap rice was only giving the poor false hopes. The program cannot be sustained, he continued, as the subsidy granted the DA is only at P20 per kilo, or P220 million a day.
He also went on to say in an interview that the program was a political move ahead of the President's third State of the Nation Address or SONA on Monday, July 22. He gathered from a conversation with National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Larry Lacson that the agency is only able to supply rice for the initial stages of the program.
Defense
"First, there are those who criticized (Program 29). Well, my first reaction is that it is better that we are doing something instead of doing nothing. Life is very hard," Tiu Laurel said during an interview.
Moreover, he said the cheaper rice was meant to benefit only the vulnerable populations in the meantime; he intended to find a way to lower the price of the grain "in general."
"I have long targeted the implementation of P29 per kilo of rice since my assumption in office. The basic question is how do we lower the price of rice in general," the secretary disclosed.
Post-harvest facilities and fertilizers must be provided by the government in order to sustain the program, he confessed.
It has also been clarified that President Marcos' program is not a political move.
As of writing, there are 13 KADIWA outlets selling the P29 per kilo rice, which Tiu Laurel aims to expand to 23 by August. Beneficiaries include members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4P's), senior citizens, persons with disabilities or PWDs, and solo parents.
"This week we’re already up to 13 KADIWA outlets. By August 1, hopefully, we will have 23 stores plus three provincial areas. We will have one in Cebu, maybe Maguindanao. Then as we go along, we will widen the coverage and may even try to lessen (the price) of the P29 rice in KADIWA stores nationwide, hopefully by the first quarter of next year," said Tiu Laurel on July 12, the Friday of the second week of Program 29's implementation.
