‘Bigas 29’ rolls out cheap rice

The National Food Authority (NFA) on Saturday announced the initial rollout of the government program that will sell aging buffer rice stocks for only P29 per kilo in Metro Manila and nearby areas.

In a radio interview, NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said the “Bigas 29” program will be launched in Kadiwa Centers in select provinces.

“In our discussions in the Department of Agriculture (DA), the intention is really to implement the program nationwide, but we have to conduct a pilot run in Kadiwa centers,” he said.

The DA earlier said the program would be limited to the beneficiaries of the government’s conditional cash transfer program, persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and solo parents.

Under the Bigas 29 program, each household is entitled to buy 10 kilos of rice.

The DA expects the program to benefit at least 6.9 million households or approximately 34 million individuals.

Meanwhile, Lacson said the NFA will make sure the aging rice stocks to be sold would be “of good quality.”

“We follow a standard that when we say the rice is three months old, we consider it as aging stock. But in reality, a three-month-old stock is not really old stock. It is only in papers that it is an aging stock,” he explained.

Lacson said the NFA will not release rice stocks that did not undergo proper inspection.