FARM TO MARKET | President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. opens a “Kadiwa ng Pangulo Para Sa Manggagawa” outlet early this July with at least 150 businesses and sellers participating. (File photo from the Philippine News Agency)
MANILA, Philippines — AGRI party list Rep. Wilbert Lee wants to make Kadiwa centers permanent nationwide, citing their success in directly linking farmers and fisherfolk with consumers.
Lee pushed for the passage of House Bill No. 3957, or the proposed Kadiwa Agri-Food Terminal Act, which seeks to institutionalize the agribusiness and marketing initiative, banking on the initial success of the Department of Agriculture (DA) program.
Lee cited DA data, which showed that over 41,000 farmers have benefited from the Kadiwa program, which generated sales of P7.241 billion and served nearly 4 million households.
“This is proof that the program has a huge potential and more people would benefit if we expanded Kadiwa,” he pointed out.