The National Food Authority (NFA) announced on Saturday that its new program to sell aging rice stock for only P29 per kilo will initially be launched in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
“Initially, this will only be done in selected areas and our KADIWA Centers. But in our meetings with the Department of Agriculture (DA), the intention is to make this nationwide. However, we need to pilot it in the KADIWA Centers first,” said NFA Administrator Larry Lacson during an interview with Super Radyo dzBB.
The program, known as ‘Bigas 29,’ will be specifically targeted at the vulnerable sector, including beneficiaries of the government’s conditional cash transfer program, persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and solo parents.
According to the DA, the program is expected to benefit 6.9 million households, or approximately 34 million individuals.
The NFA assured the public that the aging stocks to be sold are of good quality and have undergone inspection. “We follow a standard where rice that has been stored for three months can be considered aging stock. But in reality, three-month-old rice is not old stock. It’s only on paper that we label it as aging stock,” Lacson explained.
“We do not release rice from the NFA, whether it’s regular rice stored for zero to three months or more than three months, without proper inspection,” he added.
