The government’s Kadiwa program in major cities will continue until early next year when prices of basic commodities are expected to finally normalize, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced on Thursday.
The President made the announcement during the Kadiwa ng Pasko event at the Quezon City Hall.
The initiative is part of the national government’s efforts to sell food items and other “high quality merchandise” at lower prices compared to retailers by directly buying from suppliers then reselling it to consumers.
“As it stands right now, in terms of [food] supply, we’re okay until at the very least, February, March of next year. Hopefully by then, the prices of commodities in the market will have normalized,” Marcos told reporters in an interview.
Last month, the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA) said a big contributor to the 7.7 percent inflation last October was the rise in the prices of food and alcoholic beverages.
Marcos said once prices of basic goods in the market will drop to the same level being sold in Kadiwa, they might cease holding the program in urban areas.
Instead, he said, they would just continue to use Kadiwa as means to distribute food and other basic commodities in far-flung areas.
“But we’re not yet there at that point, that is why we are still expanding it [Kadiwa] in other parts of the country,” the President said.
During its launch on November 16, Kadiwa market held by the national government with local government units (LGU) covered 14 areas in the National Capital Region, Tacloban City, Davao De Oro, and in Koronadal City, South Cotabato.