“Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na”, popularly known as the P20 Rice Program, has already expanded to different provinces in the country since its launch in Cebu province on May 1, 2025, benefiting a substantial number of the priority-identified sectors in these provinces.
While publicized to have benefited hundreds or even thousands of the priority sectors, such as minimum wage earners, senior citizens, individuals with disabilities, indigenous people, farmers, fisherfolk, solo parents, indigent people, and other vulnerable sectors, the program is not heard within Puerto Princesa or any of Palawan’s mainland or island towns.
Palawan consists of 1 city and 23 municipalities, mostly island towns.
Palawan is geographically isolated from the rest of the islands in the country, lying southwest of the main Philippine archipelago and located closer to Borneo.
PROGRAM LAUNCHING
The program was launched in Cebu, spearheaded by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
During the program launching in Cebu, some 3,700 (50 kg) bags were allocated, equivalent to 185,000 kg of rice.
“Cebu LGUs have started drawing stocks from the NFA warehouse in the city and between April 29 and May 1, they have withdrawn around 3,700 50-kilo bags of rice. NFA continues to reposition stocks from rice-producing areas in the Visayas and from Mindoro to areas like Cebu that have little rice output,” the DA report published on its official website said.
EXPANSION
After the launching, the DA announced that P20/kilo rice will be available in Kadiwa centers within Metro Manila and other nearby provinces.
A few days after the launching, the DA said that 20 additional centers across Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Mindoro, and Rizal began selling P20-a-kilo rice.
In a social media post through Facebook, the DA announced that P20/kilo rice is sold in Mandaluyong and Pasay public markets as of May 13, 2025.
They later announced the specific outlets and kadiwa that sold P20/kilo rice in Bulacan, including the towns of San Ildefonso, San Miguel, and San Jose Del Monte.
Also during the month of May 2025, they announced the availability of P20/kilo rice in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal and in the cities of the National Capital Region, including Quezon City, Manila, Pasig, Caloocan, Taguig, Marikina, Valenzuela, Navotas, Mandaluyong, and Las Pinas, among others.
They also reported distributing rice to 250 vulnerable residents of Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, on May 17, 2025, a province within the Mimaropa region. Another report from DA on May 27, 2025, revealed that target sectors in Mindoro provinces received rice at a cost of P20/kilo.
During the month of June 2025, the BBM Na or P20 Rice Program has expanded to more provinces, such as, but not limited to, Iloilo, Siquijor, Bacolod City, and other parts of Negros Island.
“Between 13 May and 30 June, over 804,000 kilos of rice were sold to more than 105,000 families in Luzon and the Visayas,” the DA’s Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service said.
During the month of July 2025, the DA announced that they had included in the rollout the provinces of Guimaras, La Union, and Batangas, as well as Baguio City, among other provinces and cities. In Batangas, they partnered with the Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative (SIDC) as they opened 15 more Kadiwa outlets across Batangas province.
According to a July 16 DA report, the program already operates in 162 locations nationwide.
The DA said that part of their July 2025 target were the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Basilan, Cotabato City, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Davao Oriental, and Sorsogon.
RICE SHIPMENT TO CEBU
As of June 2, 2025, some 70,000 sacks at 50 kg per sack have been shipped to Cebu from San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, which is also part of the same program. The 70,000 bags of rice comprising the first and second batches of shipment are part of the 100,000 sacks at 50 kg per sack ordered by former Cebu governor Gwen Garcia for distribution across Cebu province.
The supply was sourced from a warehouse of the National Food Authority (NFA) in Occidental Mindoro, suggesting that the bulk of the supply from this region was diverted to other provinces, prioritized by the national government.
PALAWAN START SMALL THROUGH MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS, FARMERS
But despite no announcement yet of the program’s rollout in Palawan, some locals have availed themselves of it through other national agencies and farmers’ cooperatives.
This June 2025, at least 82 minimum wage workers in Palawan availed themselves of the P20/kilo rice, which they had the chance to buy a maximum of 10 kilos each, in an activity hosted by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and in partnership with the DA. The DOLE stated that its goal is to reach 1,200 workers in Palawan by the third quarter of 2025.
Several farmers cooperatives based in Palawan distributed some 750 kilograms of P20/kilo rice to 300 beneficiaries in Barangay Luzviminda, Puerto Princesa, in July last year, while a similar Kadiwa activity in Narra town enabled consumers to avail themselves of Pcoop’s rice. The coops forenamed that the Kadiwa get hold of Kadiwa activities at least four times annually, or on a basis.
Earlier this year, the irrigators association in Roxas, Palawan, the Sabuata Irrigators Association, composed of farmer-members from barangays San Jose, Tagumpay, and New Cuyo, distributed some 900 sacks of rice, or the equivalent of 9,000 kilos, sold at P29 per kilo. They hold kadiwa in the Municipal Dome of Roxas.
THIRD PHASE
The DA announced that for their third phase starting September 2025, the DA will extend their coverage to Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte, Catanduanes, Agusan del Sur, Sarangani, and Dinagat Island.
Consumers in Palawan expect, though, that in the next announcement of the DA, the province of Palawan, the country’s biggest in terms of land area, will be included in the rollout, thus benefiting more indigent locals through the program.
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