'Kadiwa Day' set Saturdays in Bangued

AFFORDABLE FOOD -- Gov. Dominic Valera (in red shirt) talks with residents availing of agricultural produce during launch of “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” in Bangued, Abra July 17. The Kadiwa is now held in the capital town every Saturday to provide affordable food to townsfolk. -- Liza T. Agoot/ PNA

By Liza Agoot 

BANGUED, Abra – Farmers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in this province will benefit from the “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” (KNP) project, with every Saturday set as regular “Kadiwa Day” in this capital town.
    During Monday's KNP launch at the provincial plaza covered court here, Mayor Mila Valera said: “In our meeting with the farmers' association after the turnover today, I will tell them to come every Saturday to sell their produce here at the covered court.”
    The mobile market event here is part of the nationwide launching of the KNP.
    The Philippine News Agency Facebook page reported early Monday that as of June 16, there are there already 342 Kadiwa outlets that have opened in different parts of the country.
    Nona Bigornia Castillo, president of the Riverside Farmers’ Association in Barangay Bañacao here, said in Ilocano: “We welcome the plan for every Saturday to have a Kadiwa event. The leaders of the different organizations and cooperatives are committing to helping each other in providing the produce."
    Castillo said their organization which has about 150 members produces vegetables, squash, sweet gourd and rice. She said the Kadiwa provides them with an avenue and venue to sell their produce.
    In a separate interview, Dr. Rosemarie Tesoro, Department of Agriculture provincial officer in Abra, said: “The Kadiwa concept was popularized by former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and is being carried as a flagship project of the current administration of President Bongbong Marcos to bring affordable and quality agricultural products closer to the communities while providing a market for local farmers and fisherfolk selling their products."

She said that the other agricultural commodities from other places that are not available locally and sold during the KNP events are brought by the DA-agricultural marketing division as added commodities.

During the State of the Nation Address in 2022, Marcos ordered the rollout of KNP and expansion of its coverage as a poverty alleviation measure by providing affordable food and a venue for farmers and MSMEs.

Meanwhile, all the products offered at the KNP here were bought by Governor Dominic Valera, saying “it is free to everybody.”

The products from the participating MSMEs included fresh agricultural products and processed goods.

The governor’s wife, Mayor Mila Valera, said in Ilocano, “The activity is until 5 p.m. so whoever still has products to sell, they can come and sell them or they can join the Kadiwa activity that will be formalized every Saturday."

While there were no fisherfolk at the launching, Valera said they will make sure that fish will also be sold during the upcoming Kadiwa events.

Castillo said the governor’s gesture to buy all the products will benefit them as farmers as well as the residents who could get them for free.

“We are thankful, this is a big relief, especially for us who do not have a lot of money to buy highland vegetables, food,” Castillo said. -- PNA