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 held Thursday, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Atty. Claire Castro called out what she described as “crab mentality” from critics attempting to discredit the government’s push to make rice more affordable for 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, in an ambush interview by GMA, 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 further alleged, “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 might 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.”

Vote-rich?
Vice President 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 strategic for electoral gain.

But Castro clarified that the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) 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.

“So why stop such a good initiative? Let’s not hinder it, and certainly, let’s not prevent people from buying affordable rice,” she added.