ILOILO CITY – The IBON Foundation has criticized the recent sale of rice at ₱20 per kilo in the Visayas, calling it a political stunt by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to improve his declining approval ratings.
In an interview with Bombo Radyo Iloilo, IBON Executive Director Jose Enrique Africa said the initiative by the Department of Agriculture was meant to create the impression that the President had fulfilled his 2022 campaign promise to bring down rice prices to ₱20 per kilo.
“This was clearly done to make it appear that the President is delivering on his promise, at a time when his trust and performance ratings have taken a significant hit,” Africa said.
According to the latest Pulse Asia survey, Marcos’ approval rating dropped by 17 percentage points—from 42% in February to just 25% in March.
The pilot launch of the rice sale was conducted following a closed-door meeting between the President and 12 governors from the Visayas, held at the Cebu Provincial Capitol.
Africa further pointed out that the government failed to provide details on how many Filipinos would actually benefit from the program. He also raised concerns about the country’s current rice reserves.
Based on data from the National Food Authority (NFA), the country has 358,000 metric tons of rice stocks—enough for only nine days—falling short of the target national rice buffer stock of 15 days.
Africa warned that short-term publicity efforts will not solve the long-standing issues in the agriculture sector, emphasizing the need for more sustainable and inclusive policy reforms.
