AGRICULTURE Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. admitted that the P20 per kilo of rice promised by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is possible but not now. Laurel said that presently, they are hoping to get rice that is more affordable towards the end of 2024. “The P20 per kilo was an aspiration, 'di ba? Ang problem now, we are in the 15-year high sa world market…Today that is not possible. But with ‘yung directive ni Presidente to modernize, irrigate, use the right seeds, mechanize, and all of that, maraming gagawin, we are getting ready to do our best, to try to make rice affordable na kayang kaya ng bulsa ng mamamayan,” he said. “But of course, modernizing is not easy. May procurement process, may gano’n [there’s procurement process and such]. So it might take a little time, but we will do it as fast as possible,” he added. Laurel said that lowering the price of rice is their priority but he did not mention how much. “It is possible to lower the price, definitely. But we have to have our silos, we have to have buffer stock, we have to change some laws, I believe,” he said. Earlier, Marcos promised to bring the price of rice to P20/kilo. Laurel replaced Marcos as the DA secretary on Friday, and he said that the President gave him a directive to increase production across all agriculture sectors, particularly on rice. “Basically, ang directive ni President Marcos is to increase production in almost all sectors ng agrikultura, all commodities. But of course may special emphasis sa bigas — modernize, irrigate, fertilize, and use the right type of seeds as soon as possible,” he said.