By Brian Campued
Pursuant to the initiative of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to make affordable rice accessible to more Filipinos, the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday launched the “Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na” Program for local farmers and farm workers in the country.
The BBM Na Program was launched at the National Food Authority (NFA) warehouse in Balagtas, Bulacan—one of the 18 NFA warehouses across Central and Northern Luzon that opened their gates for the initial rollout of the P20 per kilo rice to farmers.
By September, over 100 NFA warehouses nationwide will also open to accommodate the selling of the more affordable rice.
According to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., around 5 million rice farmers—who till two hectares of land or less—and farm workers are expected to benefit from the program based on the DA’s Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA).
“This is one of the many steps we are taking to ease the burden of those who feed our nation and help secure our food supply,” Laurel said.
Those eligible can buy the P20-per-kilo rice at Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP) and Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) booths set up in NFA warehouses.
Up to 10 kilos of rice can be purchased monthly from August to December 2025 or equivalent to a 50-kilo sack of rice.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Genevieve Guevara explained that RSBSA-registered farmers and farm workers only need to bring their ID and fill up information through a QR code at the NFA warehouse near them.
“Iyon po ang pamamaraan natin para ma-monitor po natin ang pagbili nila [ng bigas],” Guevara said.
The initiative will soon be expanded to include about 2.8 million RSBSA-registered fisherfolk.
The P20-per-kilo rice were previously rolled out to senior citizens, solo parents, persons with disabilities, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries, and minimum wage earners.
The DA aims to reach around 15 million households or up to 60 million Filipinos by 2026 through the BBM Na Program. (with report from Vel Custodio / PTV News)
-avds
