Marcos: Gov't eyeing to make Kadiwa stores permanent

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday said his administration is eyeing to make Kadiwa stalls, where the public can buy affordable agricultural products, permanent. 

During his third State of the Nation Address (SONA), Marcos said the establishment of Kadiwa Centers nationwide would continue as he cited the effectiveness of the program. 

“Nagsilbing kaagapay ng taong-bayan ang Kadiwa sa panahon na mataas ang presyon ng pagkain. Dahil naging epektibo ito, ang mga Kadiwa Centers ay magpapatuloy pa,” the President said. 

(The Kadiwa stalls helped the public at the time of high food prices. Because of its effectiveness, we would continue this project.)

“Katuwang ang mga lokal na pamahalaan, dinagdagan pa natin ang mga Kadiwa sa iba't ibang panig ng bansa. Higit sa lahat, layunin nating gawing permanente at mas madalas pa ang pagdaraos ng mga Kadiwa,” he added. 

(In partnership with local governments, we added more Kadiwa stalls across the country. More importantly, we aim to make them permanent.)

The Kadiwa is a program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) which aims to provide the public with affordable goods by enabling the farming community to sell goods directly to consumers without the trader-intermediaries. 

Early this month, various government agencies pushed for the establishment of Kadiwa stalls in local government units across the Philippines. 

Marcos previously said there are more than 500 Kadiwa stalls across the country catering to the basic needs of consumers at a cheaper price.

During the holiday season last year, the Marcos administration started a substantial number of Kadiwa stores and outlets all over the country as part of its measures to ensure food security and help consumers from rising prices. —KBK, GMA Integrated News