Malacañang mulls over fully funding Kadiwa centers
The Department of Agriculture sells rice at the Bureau of Animal and Industry’s Kadiwa in Visayas Avenue, Quezon City. (PNA)
MANILA, Philippines — The Malacañang Palace on Wednesday laid out plans for the national government to fully fund the Kadiwa ng Pangulo program to further expand its reach.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did so amid calls to increase the number of Kadiwa centers nationwide so more people can access affordable food items.
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“Ang nangyari kasi ngayon, we are in partnership with the LGUs [local government units]. Eventually I’m looking at a proposal na next year wala ng contribution ang LGU. Ang contribution lahat sa national government,” Marcos said in Part 2 of the BBM Podcast Episode 2.
(What’s happening now is that we are in partnership with the local government units (LGUs). Eventually, I’m looking at a proposal that by next year, LGUs will no longer need to contribute — the national government will shoulder everything.)
Malacañang wants to relieve LGUs of contributions to Kadiwa
“So sa ngayon, we are providing the volumes that are sufficient for 51 percent of our population. That’s for now and hopefully we will bring it up, up to the point that bigas for all. It will all be P20,” he also said.
(As of now, we are providing volumes that are sufficient for 51 percent of our population. That’s for the time being, and hopefully, we can increase it to the point where rice is available for everyone—all at P20 per kilo.)
In the podcast, Marcos also expressed optimism that the country will surpass the palay yields recorded in 2023 (20.06 million metric tons) and 2024 (19.09 million metric tons) this year.
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“In 2025, we predict nalampasan na naman natin yan. So our production is slowly going up. Since our production is already going up, bababa ang cost of production,” he said.
(In 2025, we predict that we will surpass that again. So our production is slowly increasing. And since our production is already going up, the cost of production will go down.)
Support for rice farmers
The President also assured farmers that low retail prices of rice will not come at the expense of their livelihood.
“Napakahirap na maging magsasaka. Ang hirap na buhay yan. Ang bigat ang trabaho niyan. Mauubos yung, tumatanda ka ng maaga dahil nagsasaka ka,” he said.
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(Being a farmer is extremely difficult. It’s a hard life and a heavy kind of work. You grow old faster because of the toll farming takes on you.)
“We have to support them. So kahit ano pa ang mangyari sa presyo ng bigas na ipinagbibili natin sa mga palengke, hindi natin ibababa ang buying price ng NFA. Never bababa yan,” Marcos also said.
(We have to support them. So regardless of what happens to the price of rice sold in markets, we will not lower the buying price of the NFA. That will never go down.)
The Kadiwa ng Pangulo program is a market linkage facilitation program that brings agricultural products and other basic commodities to vulnerable sectors in an accessible and affordable way.
It was launched in July 2023 in a move to support farmers, fisherfolk, and agricultural cooperatives by creating a direct and sustainable market for their produce.
This streamlines the market by eliminating unnecessary layers, helping to stabilize prices.
