LAUR, Nueva Ecija — Around 1,000 qualified residents in this rice-producing municipality have already gained access to rice sold at just ₱20 per kilogram under the government’s “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!” program.
The initiative, implemented through the Department of Agriculture (DA), is designed to make affordable rice available to vulnerable sectors while helping ease the pressure of food expenses on Filipino households. The latest rollout in Laur was reported by the Philippine Information Agency on August 14.
Who can buy the ₱20 rice?
The program is not open indiscriminately to everyone. In Laur, qualified beneficiaries include senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents, 4Ps beneficiaries, minimum wage earners, registered farmers and farm workers, fisherfolk, public transport drivers and operators, and public school teachers and non-teaching personnel.
Beneficiaries undergo verification to ensure that the subsidized rice reaches the sectors identified by the government.
More communities could benefit
Laur Mayor Benjamin Padilla said the local government intends to expand the program’s reach across the municipality so more residents can take advantage of the affordable rice.
To make distribution more accessible, the municipal government deployed a “Benteng Bigas Task Group” to different barangays and sitios instead of requiring residents to travel to a single distribution point.
The local government said distribution is expected to continue as long as rice supplies are allocated by the national government, meaning the availability of the ₱20 rice will depend on continuing government stocks and allocations.
Part of a much bigger national rice program
The Laur rollout is part of the nationwide expansion of “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!”, the government’s subsidized rice initiative.
When the program was formally expanded through local government units in January 2026, the Department of Agriculture said it was targeting as many as 60 million vulnerable Filipinos by the end of the year. The program prioritizes groups such as senior citizens, indigent families, farmers, fisherfolk, persons with disabilities, solo parents and minimum-wage earners.
The DA’s January rollout also included plans to bring the program to Nueva Ecija, along with Bohol, Zamboanga City and Davao City.
The program has since continued expanding in different parts of the country. In February, for example, about 2,000 residents from various barangays in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija benefited from a separate rollout of the Benteng Bigas program, according to UNTV.
Why the ₱20 price matters
Beyond providing cheaper rice to consumers, the DA has described the program as a two-pronged intervention: it helps cushion vulnerable households from food-price pressures while supporting the government’s efforts to strengthen the rice supply chain and enable the National Food Authority to procure more palay from farmers.
The national government has allocated funding for the program’s 2026 expansion, while a separate allocation supports NFA palay procurement. The DA has said the broader objective is to keep rice affordable for consumers while ensuring farmers receive sustainable prices for their produce.
For families in Laur, however, the impact is more immediate: a kilogram of rice at ₱20 can mean significant savings on one of the most basic items in the household budget.
And with the municipal government pushing to bring the program to more barangays and sitios, the next question is no longer whether Laur residents can access ₱20 rice—but how many more families will be reached while government supplies remain available.
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