The Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday that programs providing Filipinos with cheaper rice, particularly Program 29 (P29) and the Rice for All program, will expand to the Visayas and Mindanao regions next month.

According to DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa, the DA will finalize this week the details for the Rice For All Program, which will be implemented in Kadiwa centers, along with the large-scale trial of P29, in which the government sells aging buffer rice stocks for P29 per kilo.

"This will go along with the expansion of P29. Our Kadiwa Center will double [its function], and by August, we will have both P29 and Rice for All in Visayas and Mindanao. This will be added to our Kadiwa,” he told reporters.

DA initially launched on Friday the P29 at 10  KADIWA sites in  Metro Manila and nearby areas. These areas identified are located in the offices of the Bureau of Animal Industry and National Irrigation Administration in Quezon City; the Bureau of Plant Industry in Manila; Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig City; PhilFIDA in Las Pinas; Caloocan City; Valenzuela City; and Brgy. Fortune and BF City (BFCT) in Marikina City; and San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan.

Beneficiaries of the program include senior citizens, single parents, persons with disabilities, and beneficiaries of the government’s 4Ps program.

De Mesa noted that P29 and the Rice for All program will most likely be implemented not only limited to the 10 Kadiwa sites but will be expanded to more areas within this month.

Under the Rice for All Program, the staple grain will be sold to the general public for a price ranging from P45 per kilo to P48 per kilo.

The DA official, however, noted that rice prices under the program may become lower due to various factors, including the grains’ declining price in the world market and the recently implemented rice tariff reduction.

"If [the prices] continue to decrease, because two weeks ago, our initial calculation was around P45 to P48 because the prevailing prices were still at P52 and P53, but due to the developments now that the price of rice is going down, most likely, it will also go down,” De Mesa said.

“Right now, I can't say how big the adjustments are. But then again, there are many factors to be considered in computing. [B]ecause the international price affects the price here, we see that many sellers now sell rice for a lower price,” he added.

De Mesa also expressed keenness to continue the two programs until the end of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s administration in 2028.

“The Rice for All, like P29, we want this to be a sustainable and long-term gestating program. Our target is to make this implementable until the end of our president's term,” he said.