Don’t Subsidize! Institutionalize ‘Kadiwa’ Else, It’s Just ‘PR’ Stunt

The “Kadiwa Ng Pangulo” Program of the Dept. of Agriculture is a laudable initiative in offering low-priced farm goods to consumers in selected areas.
But unless it is institutionalized and its implementation not dependent on subsidies for the transport and marketing, the Kadiwa Ng Pangulo Program will just be a publicity stunt aimed at pleasing President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
At the height of the Onion Prices, when the “KNP” bought Red Onion from traders for P570 per kilo to be sold for only P150/kg. in Kadiwa Outlets, it became evident that KNP in its present form is not sustainable because it only works due to the subsidies provided by the DA.
Anong program ng Gobyerno ang magiging sustainable kung puro palugi at ang intensyon ay puro pa-pogi?
Itaga ninyo sa bato, pagkatapos ng termino ni Pangulong Marcos, mawawala ang KNP at papalitan na naman ng bagong programa na ipapangalan sa bagong Presidente.
In fairness, the “KNP,” in its present form, serves as a Proof of Concept that if farm goods are consolidated and sold directly to consumers, the prices would be a lot lower.
The DA cannot continue to operate the KNP in its present form because it does not have the mandate to conduct a business operations, a function that only the FTI, a government owned and controlled corporation under the National Food Authority, could perform.
To institutionalize the program, here are my suggestions:
1. Identify the basic food commodities needed by Filipino families daily like Rice, Fish, Meat, Chicken, Vegetables, Fruits, Cooking Oil, Sugar and Salt;
2. Craft a National Food Supply and Demand Map identifying which areas produce these commodities in excess of local requirements and which areas are short of these supplies;
3. Implement the “Kadiwa” Concept as a food logistics program under the Food Terminal Inc. (which has the legal mandate to do this) to engage farmers and fishermen in producing the basic food commodities with a guaranteed buying price and defined volume requirement to prevent over-supply;
4. Consolidate the basic food commodities to be sold in “Kadiwa” Outlets in the urban areas and in other places where these are needed with a needed margin of profit to make the program sustainable.
By doing this, farmers and fishermen will be encouraged to produce more since they know that the FTI Kadiwa Ng Pangulo Program is their sure market.
Consumers, on the other hand, would have an option to go to the FTI-KNP Outlets to buy the basic food commodities at lower prices.
This is where Local Government Units (LGUs) or politicians could step in for their “PR Stunts” by issuing discount vouchers to the poorest of the poor in their communities which they could use in buying goods from the FTI-KNP Outlets.
The FTI-KNP will then become a business undertaking which would ensure greater productivity and address Food Inflation by making food items available to consumers without so much interference by traders and middlemen.
May Kadiwa Na, May Kita Pa ang Gobyerno.
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!