President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. leads the launch of Kadiwa ng Pangulo in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan on April 19, 2023. Alfred Frias, PNA
MANILA - President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday assured the public of the continuous supply of products being sold at the Kadiwa ng Pangulo outlets nationwide, as part of efforts to help the people deal with the rising prices of goods and help local producers recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Philippine leader made the statement as he launched the Kadiwa ng Pangulo outlet in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan. Like other Kadiwa outlets, among the products being sold there are rice at P25 per kilo and sugar at less than P80 per kilo.
“Kasi dahil nga mababa ang presyo, marami kami. Noong nagsimula ‘yung Kadiwa, mabilis maubos ‘yung bilihin… Kaya’t tinitiyak namin na magkaroon ng magandang supply sa susunod. Hindi na natin kailangan alalahanin na mauubos,” Marcos said.
“Pero siyempre pagka nakakapagbili tayo ng bigas na dalawang ---P25, makabili ng asukal ng below P80, eh talaga namang dadagsain ‘yan. Eh ‘yun naman talaga ang dahilan kung bakit natin ginawa itong Kadiwa,” he continued.
In an interview, Marcos said that while government can dictate the prices of products being sold at Kadiwa stores to keep it at a minimum, there is still a need to increase production of goods so that government can launch more outlets in other parts of the country.
“Basta’t we facilitate the movement of the supply of food around. Pero ang puno’t dulo niyan, we have to increase production. We have to increase production para patuloy na dumami ang Kadiwa and it is --- ongoing na ‘yan. 'Pag maganda ang takbo ng ating agricultural production, that will be part of a system na dapat ongoing. ‘Yun lang ang --- ‘yun ang ating tinitingnan ngayon,” Marcos said.
The Palace reports that total sales of Kadiwa outlets reached to more than P415 million, with more than 1 million families and 26,000 farmers and fishermen benefitting from the program.
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