Manila Bulletin
Philippines
National
A year into PBBM's promised P20/kilo rice: 'Wala pa tayo roon, pero ginagawa natin ang lahat'
Philippines
National
A year into PBBM's promised P20/kilo rice: 'Wala pa tayo roon, pero ginagawa natin ang lahat'
A year into PBBM's promised P20/kilo rice: 'Wala pa tayo roon, pero ginagawa natin ang lahat'
By Raymund Antonio and Raymund Antonio
Published Jul 17, 2023 08:17 am
Admitting that his administration has yet to bring down rice prices to its lowest level, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said on Monday, July 17, it was nevertheless “doing everything” to achieve that dream for Filipinos.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks during the nationwide launch of the Kadiwa ng Pangulo program in San Fernando City, Pampanga. (Kadiwa ng Pangulo/Facebook)
In his message at the nationwide launch of the “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” program, Marcos said having rice at P20 per kilo, which was one of his campaign promises, remains his goal.
“Iyon pa rin ang ating hangarin na P20 na bigas, wala pa tayo roon, pero ginagawa natin ang lahat (On our dream of achieving rice prices at P20 per kilo, we haven’t reached that yet, but we are doing everything we can),” he said.
The Kadiwa program started as the “Kadiwa ng Pasko” during the Christmas season, but was later expanded to “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” to further provide Filipinos affordable agricultural and fishery products to the people.
It allows the public to buy goods at cheaper rates by creating a direct and efficient farm-to-consumer food supply chain, eliminating intermediaries.
Marcos vowed to make P20-per-kilo rice a reality despite mounting criticisms from farmers’ and agricultural groups that this was “impossible” to achieve.
On Monday, the Chief Executive was in San Fernando City, Pampanga to witness the ceremonial signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the KNP to “institutionalize” its establishments at the local level through collaboration among agencies.
The KNP was entered into by the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Presidential Communications Office (PCO), and Presidential Management Staff (PMS).
Under the agreement, the DA shall serve as the lead convenor of the Kadiwa ng Pangulo operations, while the DTI, DOLE, and DILG shall serve as co-convenors.
After the event, the President said the Kadiwa program has been “successful thus far,” though he noted its other primary goal is to boost agricultural products that will ensure the country’s enough food supply.
“As I always remind everyone, just because naglagay tayo ng Kadiwa hindi ibig sabihin sapat na ang ating produksyon (we set up Kadiwa doesn’t mean we have sufficient production),” he later told the media.
“We really have to continue to work very hard, hindi lang makapagsuplay ng agricultural products, ng pagkain, makapag-export pa (not only to supply agricultural products, food, but also to export them),” Marcos said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks during the nationwide launch of the Kadiwa ng Pangulo program in San Fernando City, Pampanga. (Kadiwa ng Pangulo/Facebook)
In his message at the nationwide launch of the “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” program, Marcos said having rice at P20 per kilo, which was one of his campaign promises, remains his goal.
“Iyon pa rin ang ating hangarin na P20 na bigas, wala pa tayo roon, pero ginagawa natin ang lahat (On our dream of achieving rice prices at P20 per kilo, we haven’t reached that yet, but we are doing everything we can),” he said.
The Kadiwa program started as the “Kadiwa ng Pasko” during the Christmas season, but was later expanded to “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” to further provide Filipinos affordable agricultural and fishery products to the people.
It allows the public to buy goods at cheaper rates by creating a direct and efficient farm-to-consumer food supply chain, eliminating intermediaries.
Marcos vowed to make P20-per-kilo rice a reality despite mounting criticisms from farmers’ and agricultural groups that this was “impossible” to achieve.
On Monday, the Chief Executive was in San Fernando City, Pampanga to witness the ceremonial signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the KNP to “institutionalize” its establishments at the local level through collaboration among agencies.
The KNP was entered into by the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Presidential Communications Office (PCO), and Presidential Management Staff (PMS).
Under the agreement, the DA shall serve as the lead convenor of the Kadiwa ng Pangulo operations, while the DTI, DOLE, and DILG shall serve as co-convenors.
After the event, the President said the Kadiwa program has been “successful thus far,” though he noted its other primary goal is to boost agricultural products that will ensure the country’s enough food supply.
“As I always remind everyone, just because naglagay tayo ng Kadiwa hindi ibig sabihin sapat na ang ating produksyon (we set up Kadiwa doesn’t mean we have sufficient production),” he later told the media.
“We really have to continue to work very hard, hindi lang makapagsuplay ng agricultural products, ng pagkain, makapag-export pa (not only to supply agricultural products, food, but also to export them),” Marcos said.