House  leaders on Tuesday lauded the plan of the Marcos administration’s to offer rice at below P30 a kilo in Kadiwa Centers this coming July and described it as a product of Executive-Legislative cooperation.

During the daily press briefing at the House, Young Guns leaders PBA Partylist Rep. Migs Nograles, 1-RIDER Partylist Rep. Rodge Gutierrez, and Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun all praised the measures being undertaken by President President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. and Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez to fight hunger.

“You see how the House really acts and works with the Executive department para i-address ng mabilisan ang mga issues ng mga tao na talagang kailangan. You see that the House listens and the House really acts right away and in the best way that we can under the leadership of Speaker Martin Romualdez,” Nograles, a Deputy Majority Leader, said.

On Monday, Speaker Romualdez met with Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel to discuss a loophole in the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) that would allow the National Food Authority (NFA) to offer affordable rice in President Marcos’ Kadiwa Centers nationwide.

This measure comes side-by-side with the committee approval in the House of Representatives of a bill seeking to amend the RTL to restore the NFA’s mandate of selling affordable rice in the market,

“Tinitingnan ng leadership natin sa pamumuno ng Speaker Martin Romualdez ang both short-term and long-term solutions. It’s good na tinitingnan kung paano pabababain ang presyo ng bigas through subsidy measures, through the Kadiwa Centers, habang tinitignan natin din ang long-term solutions,” Nograles added.

“We, of course, welcome this. It’s a good development and makikita natin na kaya naman palang mabilisan ang trabaho to address issues that need to be addressed right away,” she said.

For Gutierrez, he said he saw how the House leadership acted swiftly in addressing the rising prices of rice in the market as shown in his meeting with Sec. Laurel to look for ways to bring them down.

“Yung Kadiwa Centers, this is an Executive thrust na wala naman actually tayong power. But in as much as we can support, nandoon po tayo para sumuporta. So, it’s just in line with what we’ve always said, we’re just putting action to our words na kapag priority ito ng House, we do everything that we can within our powers,” he expressed.

“We will be passing the RTL and you can rest assured po na we will continue to monitor the situation through our oversight functions,” he added.

Khonghun, chairman of the House Committee on Bases Conversation, lauded the committee’s approval of the RTL, saying he is very pleased with his colleagues when they acted swiftly to address the needs of the people.

“We welcome the development. Masayang masaya kami dahil naipasa na sa committee level yung pag-aamyenda sa Rice Tarification Law at aminado naman tayo, wala naman batas na perpekto at mas lalong hindi perpekto iyong mga mambabatas na gumawa ng batas na ito,” Khonghun said.

“Magkakaron ulit ng obligasyon ang National Food Authority para magbenta ng murang bigas, lalong lalo na sa merkado. Binabalense nito iyong karapatan na mabigyan ng sapat na ayuda yung mga magsasaka natin at sinisigurado din nito na magkakaron ng karapatan iyong mga mamimili din sa murang bigas,” Khonghun, an Assistant Majority Leader, added.