Manila, April 30 -- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday appealed to the Department of Agriculture (DA) to temporarily withhold the implementation of the PHP20 per kg. rice project until after the May 12 elections.

In an interview, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said this is to avoid accusations that the government is using rice for politics, considering the proximity of the midterm polls.

"Our only request is, I know they will be rolling out PHP20 rice tomorrow in the Visayas, I hope that the next rollout will be after the election so that we don't get accused that rice is being politicized," he said.

The poll body last week granted an exemption for the DA's PHP20 per kg. rice project from the election ban under Secti...