MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday signed an administrative order granting a one-time rice allowance for government workers this year.

Under Marcos Jr.’s AO No. 2, workers in national government agencies, state-owned universities and colleges, government-owned and controlled corporations, and uniformed personnel will be entitled to a 25-kilogram rice assistance from the government.

“The grant of assistance in the form of rice to workers and employees in government will help mitigate the effects of the current socio-economic challenges in their respective households,” the AO, signed on December 19, 2022, read.

“The benefit gained from the grant of the said assistance will be two-fold as it will not only benefit those working in government but will also result in better economic opportunities for those in the agricultural sector,” it read, noting that the rice aid is expected to “boost domestic production and help local Filipino farmers.

The rice aid, however, would not be given to government “consultants and experts engaged for a limited period… laborers engaged through job contracts and those paid on piecework basis, student workers and apprentices, and workers hired through institutional contract of service who are assigned in government agencies.”

Government workers from local government units, the legislative and judiciary branches “may likewise be granted by their respective heads of office a one-time rice assistance at a uniform quantity of 25 kilograms each,” according to the AO.

The AO also directs the National Food Authority, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Budget and Management to issue guidelines for the release of the benefit within 10 days.

Over the weekend, Marcos Jr. inspected an NFA warehouse in Valenzuela City, and assured the public that rice supply in the country is expected to be adequate in the near future despite a lower import volume of the staple grain.