President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said on Saturday he wants a continuous supply of rice at Kadiwa ng Pasko sites that could be sold at P25 for every kilo, as he conducted a surprise inspection of a National Food Authority (NFA) warehouse in Valenzuela City.
“May nagtanong nung nasa ano tayo, nung nasa Quezon City tayo, ‘yung supply ng Kadiwa ay baka mapatid, baka magkulang. Kaya’t tinitingnan ko kung saan manggagaling ‘yung supply na pinagbibili natin sa mga Kadiwa. So pinuntahan ko na muna. Mukhang may laman naman ‘yung mga warehouse at mayroong parating pa nga,” President Marcos said in a media interview during the warehouse inspection.
“This is already the season na naglalabas na ng bigas. So tuloy-tuloy na siguro ito kaya’t para naman natitiyak natin na ‘yung Kadiwa ay hindi mauubusan ng commodities na ipagbibili… at a good price, ‘yan yung 25 pesos,” the chief executive pointed out.
According to the President, there is sufficient supply of rice in the Valenzuela City warehouse, although the government reduced importation and shifted to prioritizing the local sourcing of the staple.
The President said the supply appears to be all right, adding, “Pero siyempre kailangan bantayan nang husto ‘yan because ‘pag nag — ‘pag tinamaan na naman tayo ng masamang weather, mararamdaman na naman natin ‘yan sa supply ng palay, ng bigas.”
In the case of onion supply, the President said they are working to find a way on how to handle smuggled onions and to quickly bring the commodity to the market.
“Ang daming nahahanap na smuggled na kinukuha namin. Sabi namin… as quickly as possible, naghahanap nga kami ng paraan kasi usually ‘yan kakasuhan mo pa bago ‘yung auction. By the time, i-auction mo ‘yan, wala na sira na ‘yan,” Marcos explained.
“Kaya’t sabi ko hanap tayo ng paraan para mailabas kaagad, mailagay sa market kaagad. So ‘yun ang pinag-aaralan namin ngayon. Baka by next week mayroon na tayong solution,” the President added.
Prior to the surprise NFA inspection, President Marcos led the launching of Kadiwa ng Pasko sites also in Valenzuela City, the latest addition to the more than 350 Kadiwa sites nationwide.
