Manila, May 19 -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday said the government's rollout of PHP20-per-kilo rice was made possible due to ongoing reforms in agriculture and record-high rice production in the past years.

Speaking in the first episode of his "BBM Podcast," Marcos addressed criticisms over the timing of the program, which was launched days before the May 12 midterm elections.

The President said the initiative could not have been done earlier because the necessary groundwork were yet to be laid.

"Kung kaya niyo pa lang gawin, ba't 'di niyo ginawa noong 2022 o noong 2023? Dahil hindi pa namin kayang gawin (If it could be done then, why didn't we do it in 2022 or 2023? Because we weren't capable of doing it yet)," Marcos s...