Pilot run of 20 rice program held in Cebu, other areas possibly after May polls – DA

To the Filipino people: to bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilo,” said Laurel.

- 

“That promise is now a reality,” he added.

To mark the rollout of the Visayas pilot run at the Cebu Capitol grounds, Laurel personally manned the Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP) booth, distributing the first few kilos of rice sourced from the buffer stocks of the National Food Authority (NFA).

Laurel had earlier said that KNP stores were granted exemption by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to proceed with the selling of the P20 rice.

However, the provincial government of Cebu is prohibited from directly selling the rice as it has yet to secure approval from the poll body.

During the launch, Cebu and the state-run Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) signed a memorandum of agreement on the shared subsidy for the P20 rice program—now known as Katuparan ng Pangakong P20 na Bigas (KnP20).