MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday said that his administration has yet to deliver on his P20 per kilo of rice election promise, but they are doing everything that they can to do so.
During the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on different government agencies on the establishment of ‘Kadiwa ng Pangulo” outlets on the local government unit level, Marcos said the store had the simple goal of removing the middleman to get food prices down.
READ: A year into Bongbong Marcos’ rule: P20/kg rice becomes a conundrum
“Added cost ay binabawsan natin nang husto ‘yan para sa ganyang paraan ay maipagbili natin ng presyo na mababa. Kaya’t sa labas nakita ko P70 na lang ang asukal. ‘Yun parin ang ating hangarin na P20 na bigas, wala pa tayo roon, pero ginagawa natin ang lahat,” said Marcos during his speech.
(We are removing the added cost as much as possible so that we can buy them at lower prices. That is why when I looked outside, sugar was just P70. Our goal of P20 rice, we are not there yet, but we are doing everything we can.)
Marcos also said that the presence of Kadiwa stores does not mean enough production. He added that the Department of Agriculture (DA) still has to work hard, as the goal is also to be able to export products one day.
“Sa amin, sa DA, we have to continue to work very hard. Gusto ko, hindi lamang maka-supply ng sapat na agricultural products na pagkain, kung hindi, makapag-export pa,” he said.
(For us, in the DA, we must continue working very hard. I want to supply enough agricultural products for food and export as well.)
Marcos concurrently sits as the country’s DA chief, but his term had been marred by ski-high agricultural prices, much of which he had attributed to cartels and smuggling.
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