LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—home to nearly 708,000 Filipinos expected to benefit from cheaper rice—became the launch site on Tuesday for the wider rollout of the government’s P20 rice program.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) formally expanded the program in the province through local government units to ease food costs for vulnerable households while supporting local farmers.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said the program targets senior citizens, indigents, farmers, fishers, persons with disabilities, solo parents, and minimum wage earners.

“With the 2026 nationwide expansion rollout of the program through PLGUs, the DA is institutionalizing food security by ensuring affordable rice for vulnerable Filipinos, while empowering the NFA to procure more palay from farmers at fair and sustainable prices,” Assistant Secretary Genevieve E. Velicaria-Guevarra said.

The DA said the P20 rice program will help protect households from price spikes while easing congestion in National Food Authority warehouses, allowing the agency to buy more palay directly from farmers and lessen their dependence on middlemen.

In Pangasinan alone, about 177,000 families are expected to gain access to subsidized rice as part of the DA’s plan to reach up to 60 million vulnerable Filipinos nationwide by the end of 2026.

The 2026 rice program expansion is estimated to cost about P14 billion, including around P4 billion carried over from the previous year, excluding a separate P9 billion budget for palay procurement.