Photo from the Office of the Press Secretary
MANILA, Philippines — Expanding the scope of the Kadiwa store project will be good for both farmers and consumers, an agricultural group said.
Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) president Rosendo So said in an interview during the Laging Handa Public Briefing on Wednesday that the government should increase the number of Kadiwa stores in the country to enable farmers to earn from their harvests without passing the burden of high costs to buyers.
So made the statement after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. earlier led the simultaneous launch of Kadiwa ng Pasko stores, where rice is being sold at P25 per kilogram. At present, there are 14 Kadiwa ng Pasko stores. Eleven stores are in Metro Manila, with one in the Visayas, and two in Mindanao.
READ: Marcos: Kadiwa ng Pasko stores to sell cheaper goods, rice at P25 per kilo
“Magandang tulong ito sa ating mga consumer, of course kung lumawak ‘yong Kadiwa dito sa ating bansa ito’y makakatulong do’n sa mga hindi makabili ng mas mahal na presyo. So at least ‘yong direct farmers natin sa ating mga consumer magkakaroon ng diretso, connect do’n sa Kadiwa,” So said.
(This would be a big help to our consumers, of course, if the network of the Kadiwa widens and reaches other parts of the country, this would help those who cannot buy more expensive rice varieties. So at least our farmers can directly supply our consumers through the Kadiwa.)
As of now, Sinag said the government has yet to source rice from farmers affiliated with them, but he said that it would coordinate with the Department of Agriculture to allow farmers to supply Kadiwa stores in Metro Manila directly.
“Sa ngayon wala pa tayong nag-start na kumuha sa ating mga magsasaka pero iko-coordinate natin kay (DA) Asec. Kristine (Evangelista) para at least direktang mapuntahan ‘yong mga farmers sa mga lalawigan na pwedeng kunan ng mga gulay,” So said.
(As of now they have not started sourcing rice and products from our farmers, but we would coordinate that with DA Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista so that at least, farmers can be directly approached regarding where vegetables and products can be sourced.)
“Siguro ‘yong Kadiwa i-expand kung pwede mag-gagawa ng fix na store do’n sa, itong Metro Manila area para at least eh ‘yong mga magsasaka pwedeng magbagsak do’n sa area na ibibigay, ibebenta ng Kadiwa para at least ‘yong presyo ay both ay makakabenefit — ‘yong ating magsasaka makabenta sa Metro Manila, and mas mababa ang presyo sa ating mga consumer naman,” he added.
(Maybe we can expand the Kadiwa to have fixed stores here in Metro Manila so that at least farmers can hand down areas directly to the markets, and they would be sold by Kadiwa so that the price would be controlled and both would benefit — our farmers can sell in Metro Manila, and consumers can buy at a lower price.)
The President said the Kadiwa ng Pasko store is part of his campaign promise to bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilogram.
The President explained that Kadiwa ng Pasko stores are able to sell agricultural products at a cheaper price because farmers are given assistance or the government source agricultural products from the buffer stock of the National Food Authority (NFA).
There were already Kadiwa stores during the administration of the President’s father, the late former President Ferdinand Marcos. These stores also sold agricultural products at cheaper prices.
The Kadiwa program was brought back during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, but the operation of these stores was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. — With reports from Trisha Manalaysay, trainee
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