MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has directed the National Food Authority (NFA) to start transferring rice stocks to the Visayas in preparation for the rollout of the P20-per-kilo rice program, a key campaign promise of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Tiu Laurel said the movement of tens of thousands of 50-kilogram rice bags, particularly from Mindoro, would take several weeks to complete.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has secured clearance from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to implement the program during the election period. The subsidy for the discounted rice will be split between the DA’s Food Terminal Inc. and participating local government units.

The rice supply for the program will come from the NFA’s buffer stocks, which reached a five-year high last week at 378,157 metric tons, equivalent to 7.56 million bags—enough to feed the population for 10 days.

In Iloilo, NFA warehouses currently hold around 862,409 sacks of rice. However, NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said additional supplies from Mindoro are needed to support provinces with lower rice production, such as Cebu, Negros Island, Samar, and Leyte.

“The additional stocks for the Visayas will mainly come from Mindoro Island, where the NFA inventory exceeds 830,000 bags of rice,” Lacson said. He added that moving 40,000 sacks from Mindoro to Cebu could take up to a month.

The Visayas was selected for the pilot rollout due to its poverty rates, which are higher than the national average of 10.9 percent. Poverty rates in Negros Island and Eastern Visayas stand at 22.6 percent and 20.3 percent, respectively.

Governors from the region have expressed support for the initiative and have committed to contributing to the subsidy.

Originally planned to run until December 2025, the DA is reviewing and adjusting the program after Marcos ordered it expanded nationwide and sustained until 2028.

Aside from providing affordable rice to low-income families, officials said the program would also clear NFA warehouses to make room for new palay purchases from local farmers at better prices.