7 Million Families Benefit from Philippine Free Rice Program

MANILA, Philippines — Around seven million families nationwide have so far benefited from the government’s free rice program, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said yesterday as he gave assurance that the initiative also continued to support local farmers. Recto led the rice distribution to 55,000 families in Oriental Mindoro accompanied by provincial Gov. Humerlito Dolor. “It is important to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that none of our fellow Filipinos go hungry,” Recto said in a speech. Under the rice subsidy program, each beneficiary will receive 10 kilos of rice and will receive this regularly six times a year. Recto also stressed that the government purchases rice from local farmers for the rice subsidy program. The initiative – being rolled out nationwide – is part of the Bawat Bayan Makikinabang initiative, which also includes scholarship assistance and development assistance. It is funded through the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), a national government fund transferred to provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays to finance priority development programs and urgent local needs. “If the implementation of this program becomes successful, we will increase the allocation for the LGSF,” Recto said. For 2026, the LGSF allocation was about P57.88 billion. Earlier, the Mandaluyong City government has blacklisted the supplier who reportedly delivered underweight sacks of rice distributed under the Bawat Bayan Makikinabang program in the city.