PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. said he is looking at putting up more Kadiwa centers across the country, specifically in various local government units (LGUs).
“So, this Kadiwa program will just continue because now we are considering to evolve it. These won’t be so-called pop-up centers, but we will have a permanent Kadiwa center in various LGUs. We are studying the potential sites,” Marcos said in an interview on Wednesday, speaking partly in Filipino.
The president made these remarks after the launch of “Kadiwa ng Pangulo para sa Manggagawang Pilipino” in the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) labor center in Quezon City on Wednesday.
As the “largest” labor center in the country representing workers across different sectors nationwide, the TUCP said it has long called for the “massive” expansion of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Kadiwa and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Diskwento Caravan across the country as a needed intervention to address the “stubbornly” high inflation.
TUCP President and House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza (TUCP Party-list) said the first-ever “Kadiwa para sa Manggagawa” demonstrates the “openness” of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. in responding to the clamor of TUCP’s workers.
Mendoza noted by eliminating layers and intermediaries, including “unscrupulous” smugglers, traders, and cartels, who they feel must be prosecuted, the “Kadiwa para sa Manggagawa” empowers farmers and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to sell their affordable high-quality produce directly to ordinary Filipino consumers especially for Filipino workers.