Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) president Dakila “Dax’’ Cua called on local leaders nationwide to exercise measures that allow individuals at the grassroot level to effortlessly gain access to budget-friendly food items.
Cua’s call came at the heels of the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey that showed 46 percent of Filipino families considered themselves “food-poor”, the highest since the 49 percent obtained in June 2008.
“I urge my fellow local leaders let’s make food access a top priority, especially since we are nearing the holidays already. Huwag naman sana maging malungkot ang Pasko at Bagong Taon nang dahil hindi makabili ng pagkain ang mga kababayan natin (Let us hope that the Christmas and New Year celebration will not be worrisome for the public due to their inability to buy food),’’ Cua said.
The survey noted that self-rated food poverty was highest among respondents in Mindanao at 61 percent, followed by those in the Visayas at 49 percent and Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon at 39 percent.
To ease the public woes, Cua suggested that the local government units (LGUs) link the local farmers with communities.
“In doing so, we can pay our food producers more even as our people pay less for food,” the governor said.
Cua noted that “this is exactly the aim of the Department of Agriculture’s Kadiwa ng Pangulo program, as he called on LGUs to coordinate with the national government so that Kadiwa markets could be setup in their respective jurisdictions.’’
“We should actively work to make the goal of having at least one Kadiwa store in the 1,500 municipalities and 149 cities in our country,” Cua stressed.
According to the Department of Agriculture, there are so far a network of 504 Kadiwa markets nationwide, including 17 Kadiwa centers, 280 Kadiwa stores, 153 pop-up stores, and 54 KNP events as of August 20.
The Department of Agriculture is targeting an increase to 40 and 60 Kadiwa centers and KNP events, respectively, by the end of 2024.