Twenty-nine pesos per kilo of rice will be made available in 23 KADIWA outlets within and in three provinces outside Luzon by the 1st of August, announced Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel.
"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.
Three more stores in addition to the initial 10 began carrying the low-price rice on the Friday of Program 29's second week of implementation, July 12.
Beneficiaries, which include senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWD), single parents, and 4P's (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) members may purchase rice for P29 a kilo in these stores on Fridays through Sundays.
Program 29 aims to aid 6.9 million vulnerable households, which is equivalent to 34 million individuals.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa has clarified the President's program is not a political move ahead of his State of the Nation Address (SONA) next Monday, July 22.
