A leading agricultural scientist has raised alarm over the impact of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s flagship promise of rice at P20 per kilo, calling it a major setback for Filipino farmers.
Teodoro Mendoza, a scientist from the University of the Philippines and Science Director of the Community Legal Help and Policy Center, voiced his concerns just ahead of Marcos’ fourth State of the Nation Address.
“The P20 price of rice is felt, especially among the farmers. It created so much injustice for them,” Mendoza said in an interview with INQUIRER.net.
He criticized the program for pushing palay prices down to unsustainable levels, with farmers now reportedly selling at just P8 to P12 per kilo—far below what they need to survive.
“The price of rice has plummeted today, despite our great president’s boast that rice is P20. That is the biggest disaster our farmers have ever experienced,” he warned.
The controversial P20-per-kilo rice was a key campaign promise of President Marcos during the 2022 elections. Malacañang has since claimed that the price is being implemented at selected Kadiwa Centers across Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Mindoro, and Rizal.
Mendoza also pointed to the lingering effects of the Rice Tariffication Law, enacted under former President Rodrigo Duterte, as a compounding factor. The law led to increased rice imports, which further depressed local palay prices and hurt domestic producers.
He said many voters were unaware of the full economic consequences of the P20 rice pledge, adding, “That’s one of the reasons he won – because they didn’t understand what the impact would be on the general public.”
