President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed confidence that the government will be able to sustain the sale of P20-per-kilo rice until the end of his term in 2028.

In the second part of his second podcast episode, Marcos cited increasing domestic rice production as a key factor behind the affordability and sustainability of the program.

“So, maybe people don't know, in 2023, we had the largest crop of palay in the history of the Philippines. In 2024, we surpassed that. In 2025, we predict that we will surpass that again. So, our production is gradually going up,” he said.

Marcos explained that with higher yields, the cost of production per kilo also drops, making it more viable to offer rice at P20 per kilo.

“I'm so confident to say that it is sustainable. Because as long as we continue this, we provide machinery to farmers, let's improve all our irrigation. Let's do research at [International Rice Research Institute], at [University of the Philippines – Los Baños] on what are the good new varieties, what are the new planting techniques to grow, our production side will get better and better,” he added.

Supporting farmers

Marcos also said the government is focusing on helping farmers by procuring palay directly from them. He noted that the country had even managed to export locally produced rice, signaling progress.

The President urged farmers to sell their harvests to the National Food Authority (NFA), where they can receive higher prices.

He assured farmers that the NFA’s buying price will not be affected by lower market prices of rice.

“We have to support them,” he emphasized. “So whatever happens to the price of rice that is sold in wet markets, we will not change the buying price of NFA. It will never go down.”

Responding to public calls to expand the reach of Kadiwa stores that sell P20 rice, Marcos said he is considering removing the contribution requirement of local government units, allowing the national government to take full responsibility.

“For now, we are providing the volumes that are sufficient for 51 percent of our population. That's for now. And hopefully, we will bring it up to the point that bigas for all. It will all be 20 pesos,” he said.

At present, P20-per-kilo rice is available only to marginalized sectors such as senior citizens, solo parents, persons with disabilities, and minimum wage earners.