TO curb runaway prices of basic goods and commodities and help farmers get the best prices for their produce, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee R. Marcos pressed for the revival of the Kadiwa market system implemented during the time of her father, then President Ferdinand Marcos.
Mobile Kadiwa outlets in the 1970s primarily catered to depressed areas, selling staple food items and groceries at markedly reduced prices to ease living costs for poor households.
Marcos said strengthening the agricultural sector through the revival of the Kadiwa market system should be one of the top programs of government to help poor families, especially those in below the poverty threshold to cope with the rising prices of commodities.
“We need to institute reforms in the food supply chain to address the problem of rising prices of basic commodities,” said Marcos in a statement obtained by the Manila Standard.
At the same time, she said “we can bolster our farm sector with the Kadiwa outlets firmly in place—the consumers buy farm produce at farm gate prices.”
The Kadiwa market system spearheaded by then first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos became a venue where goods were made available at farm gate prices.
This enabled the public to buy goods at cheaper rates and the farmers to sell their crops without having to worry about transportation costs and eliminate the middle men who jacked up prices for profits.
Marcos stressed that to stabilize prices of basic goods, the government should buy the goods when the supply is excessive and sell when stocks run low:
Marcos also emphasized the need to save the “dying” agricultural sector in the country in the face of the Asean integration.
“There is a need to focus on this, implement if needed because import limit would be removed during the Asean integration,” she said.
At present, she said “we have a limit on the number of tons that can be imported.”
“When there’s Asean integration, that will be removed, The importers and traders would prevail. Our farmers will be in a pitiful condition. We need to prepare all sectors particularly the agriculture sector,” she said.