President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday led the simultaneous launch of the Kadiwa ng Pasko stores in 14 sites across the country. The President, who was present in the Mandaluyong site, said that the stores would sell rice at P25 per kilogram, closer to his campaign promise of P20 per kilogram. (Photos from the Office of the Press Secretary)
MANILA, Philippines — People can now buy cheaper goods like rice grains at P25 per kilogram through Kadiwa ng Pasko stores, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said during the simultaneous launch of the program on Wednesday.
Aside from the stores helping communities this coming Christmas season and amid rising prices of goods, Marcos said it is also a move closer to his campaign promise of bringing down rice prices to just P20 per kilogram.
The President explained that the Kadiwa ng Pasko stores are able to offer cheaper products because farmers are given assistance or other expenses are shouldered to help them sell it at a lower price, or the government gets from the buffer stock of the National Food Authority (NFA).
“Ang Kadiwa ay nagdadala lamang ng mas mura na bilihin para sa taumbayan. Pa’no nagiging mas mura? Nagiging mas mura dahil ang pamahalaan — unang-una, ‘pag bibili ng bigas, kinukuha sa NFA, kinukuha sa buffer stock, do’n lang, hindi kumikita ang NFA,” said Marcos, who led the program in Mandaluyong.
(Kadiwa only brings lower prices of goods for the people. How does it become inexpensive? It becomes cheaper because the government, first of all, procures rice from the NFA, from its buffer stock, which means the NFA is not earning anything.)
“Kung ano ang pinambili nila, ‘yon din ang presyo kaya’t nakita niyo ‘yong bigas P25. Palapit na tayo do’n sa aking pangarap na mag P20, pero dahan-dahan lang, aabutin din natin ‘yan, pero marami pa tayong gagawin,” he added.
(They are selling it at a price similar to the cost of buying the rice, so you can see rice prices at only P25 per kilogram. We are nearing my dream of having rice at P20 per kilogram — we’ll get there, but we need to do a lot.)
According to Marcos, there is a need to widen the scope of the Kadiwa stores, to shield people from rising prices of goods brought by external factors.
Kadiwa stores were a brainchild of his parents, late former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and former first lady Imelda Marcos, aimed at giving poor communities the chance to buy cheaper products.
The program was brought back during the time of the younger Marcos’ predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte, but these did not have a nationwide coverage as the COVID-19 pandemic stalled programs of the government.
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“Ang dami pang nangyayari, at wala naman tayong magawa dahil ‘yong pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin ay hindi naman nanggaling sa ekonomiya natin, nanggaling ‘yan sa mga pangyayari sa iba’t ibang lugar na hindi naman natin ma-control,” Marcos noted.
(A lot of things are happening, and we cannot do anything as the rising prices of goods are not brought by our economy, it comes from the events in other areas which we cannot control.)
“Kaya nga kami naman bilang inyong pamahalaan, ay sabi namin kailangan — wala tayong magagawa doon sa presyuhan — tumulong na lang tayo do’n sa kakayahan ng pagbili. At ‘yan ang (dahilan) kaya meron tayong fuel subsidy, kaya tayo merong AICS, kaya tayo merong TUPAD, para makatulong din kahit papaano, na mabawasan ang ginagastos ng taumbayan,” he added.
(That’s why as your government, we see the need — because we cannot do anything about market prices — to help people by giving them the capacity to buy. And that’s the reason why there is a fuel subsidy, that’s why we have AICS, TUPAD, so that somehow, the expenses of Filipinos may be reduced.)
AICS is Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations while TUPAD is Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Worker.
People can now buy cheaper goods like rice grains at P25 per kilogram through Kadiwa ng Pasko stores. (Photo from the Office of the Press Secretary)
Marcos vowed to sustain the Kadiwa program well beyond Christmas, promising to continue buying products directly from farmers while shouldering costs for transportation and other expenses so that it would not be passed on to consumers.
“Ito namang Kadiwa ay nakakamura ito dahil ang pamahalaan ay bumibili deretso sa supplier, kaya lahat ng transport costs, lahat ng mga ganyang klase na kailangang bayaran, ang gobyerno na ang gumagalaw. Kaya’t nakikita natin kahit papaano, meron tayong savings,” he said.
(For Kadiwa, people will incur lower expenses because government buys directly from the supplier, because all transport costs, all other expenses we need to settle are shouldered by the government. That’s why somehow, we see that we have savings.)
“Kaya sabi ko ibalik natin, meron na dating Kadiwa sa mga LGU (local government unit), pero kung kani-kanino lang. At nakita naman natin, maganda pa rin ang epekto para makatulong sa tao, kaya’t nakikita namin — sabi ko, bilang Secretary ng Department of Agriculture, ba’t di natin gawin ‘yong ginagawa ng mga LGU, ba’t di natin gawing national?” he added.
(That’s why I said we should bring it back, we had Kadiwa before but only selected LGUs have it. We saw that the program had a good effect in the communities, that’s why — I said, as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, why don’t we replicate what has been done at the LGU level and make it a national program?)
There are 14 sites opened on Wednesday, according to the Office of the Press Secretary, with 11 inside the National Capital Region and one each for Tacloban City, Davao de Oro, and Koronadal City in South Cotabato.
Marcos’ Department of Agriculture is supported by the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of the Interior and Local Government , Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Department of Labor and Employment.
During the simultaneous launch, members of Marcos’ first family visited different sites: First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos who appeared to be nursing a sore throat still visited Parañaque, while Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos was in Quezon City.
