Manila subsidizes community bakeries

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April 11, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Mayor Isko Moreno offered a P25,000 subsidy for local bakeries across Manila to freeze bread prices for 30 days.

“The city government provided this economic assistance to help cover various expenses of each bakery and to protect the price of basic Filipino bread,” Moreno said during a meeting with bakery shop owners on Thursday.

Moreno said he would be subsidizing flour and yeast, which make up 69 percent of bread-making, along with electricity, water and labor. 

The costs for these key ingredients are expected to increase around P2,165, he added.

“The city could give bakers enough breathing room to absorb rising costs without passing them on to consumers, particularly the working class and students who depend on affordable bread daily,” Moreno said.

He added that middle-class taxpayers should also benefit from the program.

According to Moreno, the subsidy aims to freeze the prices of pandesal, pandilimon, monay and Spanish bread.

Chito Chavez, Asosasyon ng Panaderong Pilipino president, welcomed the initiative saying it is the first time a local government made such effort in his 30 years of advocating for Filipino bakers.

“This is the first time I have seen a Manila mayor sought a way to help us,” Chavez said in Filipino.

Aside from the assistance to bakers, Moreno said the city government would start distributing 10 kilos of rice each to 80,000 families in Manila on April 16 under the ‘Biyayang Bigas’ program.

“We may fall hard, but when we do, at least the government has put down a cushion so it would not hurt as much,” Moreno said.