BACOLOD CITY — The P20 rice program under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!” initiative has officially launched in Bacolod with the opening of three KADIWA ng Pangulo centers, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. and Bacolod Mayor Albee Benitez announced Thursday.

The program aims to provide affordable, high-quality rice to vulnerable groups such as indigent families, solo parents, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and minimum wage earners.

Bacolod City ordered 5,880 sacks of rice from Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), the Department of Agriculture’s marketing arm, to meet the city’s two-week supply based on an estimated daily demand of 400 sacks.

Mayor Benitez said inflation, especially in the food sector, is a major concern, adding that the program is intended to stabilize prices and ease the burden on constituents.

FTI President Joseph Lo assured that the agency has sufficient stock to supply Bacolod throughout the pilot program, which will run until December.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Genevieve Velicaria-Guevarra, head of the DA’s Agribusiness, Marketing, and Consumer Affairs and overseer of the KADIWA program, said the three new Bacolod outlets bring the total number of P20 rice stores nationwide to 87—surpassing the initial target of 55 stores by the end of June.

She also said the number of outlets is expected to grow significantly as the Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Social Welfare and Development help expand the program, with over 1,000 areas soon to offer P20 rice.

At the event, the Philippine Rice Research Institute awarded Negros Occidental a certificate for 96,550 bags of rice seeds worth P84.96 million, funded by the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. These seeds will cover 44,514 hectares of rice land for the upcoming wet season.