MANILA (PNA) — Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Soliman said the 1.06 million sacks of rice it will acquire from the National Food Authority (NFA) will enable them to feed 1.5 million marginalized children for the rest of the year.

In a statement, Soliman said the rice will be coursed through the agency's 48,000 daycare centers where it will be used for various feeding programs.

She said beneficiaries will not pay a single cent for the rice as it is for free.

The NFA earlier announced that it will be selling 40,000 tons of rice to the DSWD.

NFA administrator Angelito Banayo told reporters their retail selling price of P25 per kilogram is much lower than NFA’s buying price.

Banayo said the excess rice is being sold to make room for the government’s planned purchase of local palay by November or December this year.

He clarified that rice is not damaged.

Banayo said the government needs to allot more than P20 billion to purchase the forthcoming palay harvest.