TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) — In a first of the many that the town would soon be engaging, farmers and fishers as well as micro, small, medium enterprises (MSME) grossed P53,162 in the three-day sales of agri products in Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP), December 9-11, at the Lila church grounds.
For all exhibitors, recorded sales went up to P241,811.00, and buyers reaching 1,679, according to shared consolidated sales reports from the LGU technical Working Group.
Biggest grosser however is the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) which brought in cheap rice which it sold to selected marginalized sectors at P29.00 a kilo and rice for all at P40.00, which is still cheaper than the market stall price of P50-55. Despite a much reduced price of rice from its contract farming program, NIA sold P88,160 worth of rice in their two-day offer before their stocks ran out.
“Like the KNP, our goal is to make available cheap rice and we called on NIA to get us their affordable rice, like what President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., promised for every KADIWA. And all the agri products have to be sold at prices below the market stall price,” Municipal Councilor Eugene Cahiles explained.
Cahiles, Sangguniang Bayan chair for cooperatives and livelihood, authored Municipal Ordinance No 14, which institutionalized the KNP in Lila to be happening every 15th and 30th of the month.
“KNP is part of the government’s efforts in ensuring stable food supply and making available affordable food products by enabling farmers and MSMEs to directly sell to consumers by eliminating market layers, and making sure the sales generated sustains the local economy,” Lila Vice Mayor Regina Salazar shared.
During the 3-day sales event, Jambawan Farmers Association grossed P20,620, Calvario had P16,976, Lila Federated RIC had P12,865 and Lila Liga ng mga Barangay had P2,701.
And if KNPs are supposed to be helping other farmers, visiting sellers like the Ubay Buwak Vendors and Farmers Association sold P32,570 potted ornamental plants, Ubay’s Tintinan Island Dried Fish Vendors Association went home with P15,269 and even MSMEs reported sales.
The KNP in Lila produced 16 exhibitors, despite the fact that Lila has only a handful of barangays into vegetable and agricultural production. Lila is a town acclaimed for its people being adventurers, and thrives on remittances from their workers outside the town.
The Department of Interior and Local Government, through Memorandum Circular No. 2024-003 has enjoined all Local Government Units to set up KNPs in their localities in Partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Labor and Employment and the DILG.
The order also effectively institutionalized the KNP, to which Lila legislators also acted upon, knowing what it could do to stir up local economies. (RAHC/PIA-7/Bohol)
