By Stephanie Sevillano | Philippine News Agency
The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday announced that it will move the launching of P20 per kilogram rice dubbed “Benteng Bigas Mayroon (BBM) Na” in Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP) centers in Metro Manila from the original May 2 target to May 13.
This came after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) appealed to the DA to withhold the Metro Manila KNP rollout of the program until after the May 12 midterm elections to avoid accusations that the government is using the rice program for politics.
In a media interview, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said only the pilot launch in the KNP site in Cebu will push through on Thursday.
“The Cebu government has not yet gotten the approval to do the selling of P20 kilo rice in Cebu. But tomorrow, ang Kadiwa naman is allowed on May 1, but from May 2 to 12, mukhang hindi kami allowed. So we will go ahead and launch the P20 in Kadiwa tomorrow in Cebu,” he said.
With the rescheduled launch of the BBM Na program in Metro Manila, Laurel said they may increase the number of participating KNP sites.
“Inuna lang namin sa eight [KNPs] for the repositioning stocks because we’re expecting na baka marami iyong manpower namin na ipu-pull,” the DA chief said.
“Definitely, madagdagan. The schedule, we will probably give it to you before we do the actual selling on May 13,” he added.
The DA earlier said it’s “all systems go” for the pilot launch in Cebu, which will be opened for the general public.
For the overall pilot rollout in Western, Central, and Eastern Visayas, as well as Negros Island Region, around 800,000 families or four million individuals are expected to benefit, according to the DA.
