Quezon City 5th district Rep. PM Vargas (Facebook)

Quezon City 5th district Rep. PM Vargas has been pushing for localized rollouts of Kadiwa stores in his city to help residents cope with rising food prices. 

“We have witnessed how these Kadiwa stores effectively help the public buy basic commodities at lower prices compared to those being sold in regular markets. The idea of having these stores permanently is a win-win solution to local suppliers and consumers especially now that prices of goods are on the steady rise,” Vargas said. 

The neophyte solon has filed in the current 19th Congress two bills for this purpose: House Bill (HB) No.5878, and HB No.5891. These seek to establish Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita Stores in Barangay Bagbag and Sta, Monica in Quezon City, respectively. 

“We intend to bring these rolling stores in respective communities to further lessen the expenses shouldered by the consuming public. Instead of spending for transportation cost, they could use the amount for more food items for the family,” he said. 

President Marcos, through the Department of Agriculture (DA), revived the Kadiwa program last year after a spike in prices of basic food products due to the pandemic. Marcos is the concurrent DA secretary. 

Vargas said his measures will complement the Right to Adequate Food Framework Bill, which was earlier introduced by his predecessor and brother, former Rep. Alfred Vargas, during the previous 18th Congress. 

The measure aim to establish a framework that would ensure food availability, stability, and security by establishing well-functioning distribution, processing, and market systems. 

“This effort will also result to job generation, increased production of our local farmers, and lesser bottlenecks in our food chain. In time of the fast-approaching Christmas season, these rolling stores will be a very good gift to our constituency,” he said.