Manila, May 1 -- The "Bente Pesos na Bigas Meron Na" program aims to help address inflation and is a direct response to oversupply in local rice stocks, benefiting not only the consumers but the farmers as well, an official said Thursday.

"This is our way of addressing both supply and demand issues," DA Spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said, ahead of the official launch of the program in Cebu later in the day.

"Gusto nating bigyang-diin na hindi lang yung mga ordinaryong Pilipino ang makikinabang dito... kundi mismo yung ating mga magsasaka (We want to emphasize that it is not just the ordinary Filipinos who will benefit from this... but also our farmers themselves)," he added.

The DA is piloting the initiative in the Vis...