Stricter controls for P20/kg rice program

DUE to limited funding and stocks of rice to expand the target beneficiaries of the P20 per kg. rice program, the Department of Agriculture would institute stricter controls by requiring registry of beneficiaries with a QR code where they can buy the staple wherever they are.

The move is intended to prevent repeat and multiple purchases of rice, as had been experienced since the launch of the trial program six months ago.

The DA said beneficiaries of the cheap rice program should register so they can have a QR code that would be presented to outlets– NFA warehouses in the country and in four sites of Metro Manila.

DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the agency wants to implement the stricter use of the masterlist registry system by March 2026 to give time for qualified beneficiaries to register.

“Since we’ve only launched this Monday (November 24), we’ll give the general public three months to register until end-February. By March, they won’t get to buy [P20 rice] without a QR code. I think that’s enough time,” he said.

The P20 rice program only allows 30 kilos per month for each beneficiary– that has been expanded in May to include senior citizens, solo parents, persons with disabilities, indigents, and indigenous people; wage earners, rice farmers and fisherfolk, tricycle and jeepney drivers and beneficiaries of Walang Gutom Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. 

“With this online system, we can now step up the expansion of the P20 rice program to include teachers, security guards, and other transport sector workers like bus drivers and delivery riders,” Laurel said.

He observed that during the trial period in the previous six months there were lots of people who made multiple purchases.

 “So, this would control things since we don’t have an unlimited budget and rice supply. We just want to provide fair treatment for all beneficiaries.”

For 2026, Laurel said the DA expects a P23-billion budget to sustain the government’s subsidized rice program, broken down P9 billion from the National Food Authority (NFA), and P10 billion for the Rice-for-All program. The remaining contingency fund of around P4 billion would make up the total funding.

Registered P20 beneficiaries can use the P20 Benefinder (https://p20.da.gov.ph/) to generate their QR codes and present them before purchasing rice at the P20 outlets. 

The P20 Benefinder is another module of the P20 Registry System that verifies target beneficiaries.