Manila, April 27 -- Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has instructed the National Food Authority (NFA) to begin repositioning rice stocks to the Visayas in preparation for the launch of the PHP20 per kilo rice program.

"It will take several weeks to transfer tens even hundreds of thousands of 50-kilo bags rice from NFA warehouses, particularly from Mindoro, to various parts of the Visayas," Laurel, who also chairs the NFA Council, said in a news release Sunday.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) already secured clearance from the Commission on Elections to roll out the PHP20/kilo program, a key campaign promise of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in 2022.

The subsidy for the lower-priced rice will be shared equally by th...