The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced plans to lower the maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) of imported rice beginning July 1, 2025, following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to ease the burden on Filipino consumers.
“We plan to bring down the MSRP of imported rice to P43 per kilo from the current P45, in response to the recent decline in global rice prices,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said over the weekend.
The DA initially set the MSRP in January in line with the President’s decision to slash rice tariffs from 35 percent to 15 percent starting July 2025. The move follows a drop in global rice prices, spurred by India’s lifting of its export ban on non-basmati rice and waning demand after last year’s El Niño.
The MSRP for 5 percent broken imported rice was first pegged at P58 per kilo when it was piloted on January 28, 2025. It was gradually reduced to P45 by March 31.
According to Tiu Laurel, the price ceiling helped ease inflation and allowed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to cut interest rates—stimulating economic activity and job creation.
He added that rice sold through the DA’s Rice-for-All program would also reflect the new pricing. Currently, 5 percent broken rice sells for P43 per kilo, 25 percent broken for P35, and 100 percent broken for P33.
The DA’s initiative supports the administration’s “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!” campaign, which aims to fulfill President Marcos’ pledge to make rice available at P20 per kilo.
The pilot run of the P20-per-kilo rice program, ongoing until December, targets up to 14 million low-income and vulnerable Filipinos, including minimum wage earners.
“I wouldn’t have pursued this program—especially not the President—if it hadn’t been thoroughly studied. He spent three years analyzing it before we began implementation last month,” Tiu Laurel said, addressing concerns about the program’s feasibility.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez has instructed policy and budget experts in the House of Representatives to evaluate the viability of adopting the P20-per-kilo rice initiative as a national policy.
