Eyeing for a higher success rate of Kadiwa ng Pasko in Valenzuela City, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., set his foot at the venue to personally see the situation of the program, Barangay Malanday Covered Court, December 17.

There were about 43 local entrepreneurs that participated in the said bazaar to sell low-priced products to the people. The conglomerate of sellers is composed of food and non-food stalls.  Some of them were; San Miguel Foods Inc., Nissin Monde, Puresnacks, Eltee Mktg (Pepsi distributor), Magic 5 Corporation (Condiments), Lins, TYBTG Corporation (canton, bihon, misua), Allison.mnl (shoes), Moonlight handicrafts and so on. All the participating sellers were invited by the local government in order to provide a variety of products the people can choose from.

The Kadiwa ng Pasko project is the come-up solution of the national government through the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to suppress the worsening food prices. It aims to provide selling venue for the country's local producers where people can buy affordable yet high quality agri-fishery products and other necessities.

Following its launch on November 16, Kadiwa ng Pasko project opened simultaneously in 14 sites — 11 cities in National Capital Region (NCR), one in Tacloban City, one in Davao De Oro, and one in Koronadal City, South Cotabato.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., being the concurrent Agriculture Secretary, personally visited the Kadiwa ng Pasko venue in Barangay Malanday, Valenzuela City. He went around the venue and inspected every stall.

In his message, he said, “Ito pong [Kadiwa ng Pasko] ay ang aming munting pagtulong para naman maging masaya ang ating pasko nitong taon na ito… kaya’t mabuti itong [Kadiwa ng Pasko], dahil hindi lamang nabibigyan ng pagkakataon ang taong bayan na makabili ng pangangailangan sa mas mababang presyo, ngunit binigyan din natin ng pagkakataon ang mga local producers na magkaroon ng merkado, kung saan sila maaring pumunta at ipagbili ang kanilang mga ginawang gamit.” [This Kadiwa ng Pasko is our little help to make our Christmas happy this year... so this is good, because it not only gives the people of the town the opportunity to buy necessities for a lower price, but we also gave local producers the opportunity to have a market, where they can go and sell their products]

According to the recent data collected by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the country’s current inflation rate has hit 7.7 percent due to the higher annual growth of the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 7.2 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 8.0 percent; and restaurants and accommodation services at 4.2 percent. With this on the line, it is quite an alarming situation that severely affecting the prices of the basic necessities.

Kadiwa ng Pasko project was first initiated by the Local Government Units (LGU) with the objective of providing more affordable products for the public. With this, President Marcos, Jr. believes that it would be more beneficial to widen its scope nationally to reach more people while sustaining the income of the agricultural sector.

One of the products that was flocked by the people was the PhP 25/kilo rice from DSWD. It may be recalled that during campaign period, PBBM made a promise of lowering the price of the basic necessities, especially the rice.

Joining the event were, Valenzuela City Mayor Wes Gatchalian, Senator WIN Gatchalian, 1^st District Councilors; Ghogho Deato Lee, Cris Feliciano, Ramon Encarnacion, Ricar Enriquez, Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) President Goyong Serrano, Liga ng Baranggay President Jonjon Bartolome, Local Economic Development and Investment Promotions Office (LEDIPO) Officer-in-charge Josephine Osea, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) Chairperson Sandra Montano, PCW Commissioner Amielyn Limbona, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Undersecretary Atty. Benjo Santos Benavides, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Assistant Secretary Odilon Pasaraba, DILG Regional Director Maria Lourdes Agustin, DILG – Valenzuela Director Mary Jane Nacario, and Department of Agriculture (DA) Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista.

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