Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija – The Benteng Bigas, Meron Na program by the national government was launched in two of Central Luzon’s provinces on 13 August 2025.

According to the Department of Agriculture (DA) Central Luzon, residents of Nueva Ecija and Bulacan can now buy P20 per kilo rice at selected National Food Authority (NFA) warehouses in the region that is selected as the Benteng Bigas, Meron Na outlet.

The DA Central Luzon pointed out that one of the 18 NFA warehouses in the country include the NFA-Cabanatuan that sells P20 per kilo of rice to farmers registered under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA).

In Bulacan, the Benteng Bigas, Meron Na program was launched in Barangay Borol 1^st in Balagtas. The event is part of a simultaneous pilot launching of the program that sells P20 per kilo of rice to RSBSA-listed farmers.

The said program is under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration’s thrust that aims to stop hunger and push for food security by selling affordable rice.

Recipients can buy 10 kilograms of rice per month, up to 50 kilograms for five months, as the allocation of rice to every farmer under the RSBSA. Beneficiaries need only to present their RSBSA ID or QR code to avail the P20 per kilo rice.