The Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP) program generated some PHP1.4 million in sales for participating micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and farmers in Antique in 2024.

Antique Provincial Government Community Affairs Officer Ge Anthony Recopuerto said in an interview Wednesday that they organized eight Kadiwa events last year.

Aben Ortega, whose group is composed of the beneficiaries of the Kapatid Mentor Me (KMME) program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said the KNP provided them with a venue to interact with their buyers.

“Kadiwa ng Pangulo has provided us not only a venue for us to sell our products. It allowed us to have an actual interaction with our customers,” he said.

Their group of 20 to 30 MSMEs experienced the actual selling of processed foods such as banana and camote chips and other non-food items like “patadyong” or handwoven fabric and apparel because of the KNP. Before, they only displayed their goods in souvenir shops on a consignment basis.

Other Kadiwa participants are beneficiaries of the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers of DOLE.

Meanwhile, Recopuerto said the Provincial Legal Office is now reviewing the draft ordinance for the proposed institutionalization of the KNP in the province.

“This year, we intend to have the Kadiwa ng Pangulo be institutionalized in the province,” he said.

The ordinance will mandate the regular holding of the Kadiwa ng Pangulo in the province.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) will also become a partner of the provincial government, in addition to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture, and Office of the Provincial Agriculture. (PNA)