By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. on Friday led a visit to the Pasay City Public Market to oversee the continued rollout of the KADIWA ng Pangulo kiosks that sell affordable rice to consumers under the Rice-for-All program.
“The [Rice-for-All] program, which offers well-milled rice at P40 per kilo, is a realization of President Bongbong Marcos’ vision to provide affordable rice options to more Filipinos. This program is separate from the P29 rice initiative, which specifically supports vulnerable sectors, including senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents, and indigents,” said Sec. Tiu Laurel, noting the government’s efforts to stabilize rice prices for the benefit of consumers.
“We will continue to expand these KADIWA kiosks to more cities and municipalities in the coming weeks to ensure that rice prices reflect true market conditions, especially following President Marcos’ decision to reduce tariffs from 35 percent to 15 percent in July,” the agriculture chief added.
The Rice-for-All program is an initiative of the government that aims to tackle the problem of artificially inflated rice prices brought about by unscrupulous businessmen that are draining consumer’s wallets and raising red flags in Congress.
Following the successful initial rollout last week in five public markets and select train stations, the D.A. is expanding the Rice-for-All program to nine additional locations.
The new markets and LRT/MRT stations include: Maypajo Public Market (Caloocan City), Murphy Market and Cloverleaf Balintawak (Quezon City), La Huerta Market (Parañaque City), Trabajo Market (Sampaloc, Manila), and several key train stations: Cubao (LRT2), Recto (LRT2), North Avenue (MRT3), and Ayala Avenue (MRT3).
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