
Citing its usefulness and convenience, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered all Kadiwa Stores permanent.
“Nagsilbing kaagapay ng taumbayan ang Kadiwa sa panahon na mataas ang presyo ng pagkain. Dahil naging epektibo ito, ang mga Kadiwa Centers ay magpapatuloy pa,” President Marcos said in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
Kadiwa Stores is a program launched during the presidency of the late President Ferdinand R. Marcos Sr. to guarantee food availability and affordability in high-demand areas and in communities with low-income families.
In a post-SONA briefing on Tuesday, Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said they are planning to turn Kadiwa into “Brick-and-Mortar stores all over the Philippines.”
“Iyong Kadiwa Program, which was launched during the President Marcos Sr.’s time, is actually a very good program na napabayaan for many years. So, ngayon ang gagawin natin is ile-level up natin from like, a mere pop-up stores at mayroon dito, minsan wala. Pero gagawin nating permanent Brick-and-Mortar stores to all over the Philippines,” Laurel said.
They will try to achieve “1,500 sites in the next three years” to serve almost every municipality and city in the country, he added.
The program also aims to enhance the farm-to-market supply chain by strengthening the connection between local producers and consumers.
“Then, ang maganda rito is, parang Kadiwa, ang plano natin is, maging cooperative-run ito eventually. So, iyong mga farmers mismo at fisherman ay makakadiretso sa consumers, para lumaki ang kita ng mga farmer and fisherman at bumaba naman ang bili ng presyo ng mga consumers,” Laurel explained.
“Iyan ang basic idea diyan and of course, it’s also done in order to keep our retailers and wholesalers honest, para mabawasan ang profiteering if possible. So, para bumaba din ang inflation,” he added.
In the SONA, President Marcos also reported that 1,200 kilometers of farm-to-market roads are nearing completion this year. PND