Malacañang defended President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s P20-per-kilo rice initiative on Thursday after Vice President Sara Duterte slammed the program as an “election ploy” designed to benefit administration-backed senatorial bets ahead of the 2025 midterm polls.

In a press briefing on Thursday, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro called out critics for what she described as their “crab mentality” for attempting to discredit the government’s push to make rice more affordable to the public.

“From the very beginning, they said the President could never achieve the aspiration of selling rice at P20 per kilo,” Castro said in Filipino. “Now that this aspiration is slowly being realized, why are they suddenly speaking negatively again?”

Castro’s remarks came a day after Vice President Duterte branded the program as another campaign tactic.

“I don’t know what their motive is. Perhaps they are again trying to fool the people with P20-per-kilo rice,” Duterte said.

She added, “The person who promised P20 per kilo lied. He knew it wasn’t possible, but he still gave people false hope.”

The Vice President also claimed that the rice being sold at P20 may be of such low quality that it would normally be used as pig feed.

“Filipinos are not animals,” she said, warning that such efforts were just part of a broader scheme to boost the chances of administration allies in the coming elections.

But Castro rejected these insinuations, defending both the quality of the rice and the integrity of the program.

“Just because the rice is cheap doesn’t mean it’s for animals,” she said. “The rice to be sold at P20 per kilo is the same rice currently priced at P33, sourced from our local farmers. Let’s not belittle them.”

Duterte also questioned the decision to launch the initiative in the Visayas, calling it a vote-rich region and implying that its selection may be for a strategic electoral gain.

Castro, however, clarified that the Department of Agriculture’s decision was based on logistics and cooperation.

“According to Secretary Laurel, the Visayas was chosen because the National Food Authority has substantial stocks there. They were also the first to express willingness to cooperate with the President on subsidies,” Castro explained.

Meanwhile, the P20-per-kilo rice could become inclusive if the senatorial candidates supportive of the Marcos administration win seats in the Senate in the 12 May elections, House Speaker Martin Romualdez said Thursday.

Romualdez, who is running unopposed as Leyte’s first district representative and is believed will again be the leader of the House in the 20th Congress, said the lower chamber could function smoothly and pass the needed laws for a long-term rice price stabilization solution if the majority of the seats in the Senate are occupied by candidates under the administration Alyansa Para Sa Bagong Pilipinas.

Congress, he said, can push laws supporting agricultural modernization, mechanization, high-quality seed distribution, soil-health programs and solar-powered irrigation so that the P20-per-kilo rice materializes beyond the pilot period.

“If the Alyansa wins in the Senate, it will be much easier to push reforms in logistics, farm support, and digital subsidies that will ensure that this success is not temporary but long-term — for farmers, for consumers, and for the entire nation,” the House chief averred.