MANILA (September 17) — Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said yesterday that the government’s P20-per-kilo rice program will begin to cover public school teachers and non-teaching staff next month.
According to him, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are working together to get ready for the program’s next phase.
At the launch of the expanded rice distribution program, which targets drivers of jeepneys and tricycles as well as other transport workers, Tiu Laurel informed reporters at the Quezon City DA office, “We are finalizing the list.”
But, he noted, “there’s a chance that all school personnel will be covered, depending on the salary grade,” adding that the coverage might extend beyond teachers.
On October 15, the DA plans to start offering school personnel P20 per kilogram of rice.
Approximately 800,000 teachers and non-teaching professionals work for DepEd nationwide, making it one of the biggest government institutions.
Tiu Laurel stated that when planning the program’s implementation, the number of its employees is being taken into account.
One of President Marcos’ main campaign pledges, the P20 rice program, has been progressively extended to include disadvantaged populations.
Seniors, single parents, those who have disabilities, beneficiaries in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, farmers, fishermen, minimum wage earners, and transportation workers are among the program’s beneficiaries.
By October, the DA said, it hopes to sell roughly 1,000 tons of rice every day under this program. By November, the amount should have doubled to 2,000 tons, and by December, it should have reached 3,000 tons.
Up to 3.6 million households might be served by the program by the end of the year, assuming each household receives a monthly allocation of 10 kilograms of rice and it is sold at Kadiwa ng Pangulo shops at least three times a week.
According to Tiu Laurel, the National Food Authority aims to guarantee fair prices for regional palay producers while maintaining an adequate supply of rice to support the subsidy.
By the end of 2026, the DA hopes to have 15 million households, or around 60 million Filipinos, covered by the program.
