P20/k rice still a goal

Marcos: Gov’t committed to fulfill campaign promise

By Vince Lopez

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the government is doing everything it can to make good his campaign promise to cut the price of rice to P20 a kilo.

At the nationwide launch of his administration’s Kadiwa ng Pangula program in San Fernando, Pampanga, Mr. Marcos acknowledged they have yet to

COMING

SOON. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assures Filipinos his administration is doing all it can to fulfill his campaign promise of bringing down rice prices to P20 per kilogram. NFA rice (shown in photo) is sold at P25 per kilo, for a maximum purchase of four kilos, at the Diskwento Caravan Kadiwa ng Pangulo in front of the Pasay City Hall on Monday, July 17, 2023. Danny Pata achieve his dream of P20-a-kilo rice.

“As to our dream of achieving rice prices of P20 per kilo, we’re not there yet, but we are doing everything we can,” the President said.

The Palace said all 81 provinces in the Philippines joined the simultaneous launch as they opened their own Kadiwa centers—government stores where people can buy agricultural produce at a lower cost by providing a venue for farmers to sell their produce directly to consumers.

“Kadiwa is good because we have a system where consumers can purchase cheaper products,” the President said.

The President signed a memorandum of agreement that formalizes the partnership of several executive agencies— led by the Department of Agriculture (DA) which he heads—to collaborate and support the local government units in establishing Kadiwa stalls in their respective localities.

Other agencies that are part of the agreement are the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Labor and Employment

By Rey E. Requejo

THE Philippines will not comply if the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues a warrant of arrest against anyone for deaths arising from former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Monday.

Instead, Remulla said the ICC should allow the Philippines to run after the persons against whom the tribunal has evidence of having committed crimes during the anti-drug operations.

“As long as they have evidence against these persons that they want to run after, then they should give them to us so that we will be the ones to prosecute those who committed crimes in our country,” Remulla said in a media briefing.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. leads the launch of the electronic Local Government Unit (eLGU) System and the People’s Feedback Mechanism (eReport) in Malacañan Palace on Monday (July 17, 2023). He is joined by Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan Uy and Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos. Rey Baniquet