Remarks of the President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Groundbreaking of 1,179 Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units and Inauguration of 18 Police’s Food Security Warehouses
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Good morning,
May peace and prosperity be upon us all,
Shalom,
Salve,
Om Swastiastu,
Namo Buddhaya,
Greetings of virtue,
Honorable Chief of the Indonesian National Police, as the host, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, along with all senior officials of the National Police Headquarters, whom I respect and honor;
Coordinating Minister for Food of the Red and White Cabinet, Zulkifli Hasan, whom I respect and honor;
Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security, General (Ret.) Djamari Chaniago;
Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Prof. Dr. Dadan Hindayana;
Ministers of the Red and White Cabinet, Vice Ministers, Commander of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI), heads of agencies, and all members of the Red and White Cabinet in attendance: Minister of Trade, Budi Santoso; Minister of Culture, Prof. Dr. Fadli Zon; Minister of State Secretary, Prasetyo Hadi; Commander of the TNI, General Agus Subiyanto; Cabinet Secretary of the Republic of Indonesia, Lieutenant Colonel Infantry Teddy Indra Wijaya; Presidential Chief of Staff, Muhammad Qodari; Head of the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), Prof. Taruna Ikrar; Head of the Halal Product Guarantee Agency (BPJPH), Ahmad Haikal Hassan; Vice Minister of Home Affairs, Commissioner General of Police Akhmad Wiyagus; Vice Minister of Health, Benyamin Paulus; Deputy Head of the National Nutrition Agency, Inspector General of Police (Ret.) Sony Sanjaya; Deputy Head of the National Nutrition Agency, Nanik Sudaryati Deyang;
Distinguished guests, regional police chiefs (Kapolda) throughout Indonesia, Deputy Chair of Commission I and Chairperson of the National Karang Taruna, Budi Djiwandono, Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta, Rano Karno, Metro Jaya Police Chief, Inspector General of Police Asep Edi Suheri, Head of the MBG (Free Nutritious Meals) Task Force, Inspector General of Police Nurworo Danang;
Community leaders, Karang Taruna youth organization members, and MSME (micro, small, and medium enterprises) communities;
School principals benefiting from the SPPG (Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit) program under Metro Jaya Police;
All invited guests, as well as members of the press and media, whom I respect and honor.
As people of faith, let us never cease to offer our praise and gratitude to the Almighty God. For Muslims, Allah SWT, the Creator of all universe, to Him alone we pray, and to Him alone we seek help. We are grateful for all the goodness and peace that have been granted to our nation and state so we all can gather here in this morning to commence the groundbreaking of 1,179 SPPG and the inauguration of 18 Police food security warehouses.
Let us pray for our brothers and sisters who suffered disasters in some parts of the country. May they be blessed with strength, and resilience, and able to recover quickly.
On this occasion, allow me to thank you. It is an honor to be here in this auspicious occasion.
Today, I am delighted and happy. I feel fulfilled witnessing the most important agency in this country, namely the Indonesian National Police (Polri) has taken initiative even in areas that may appear beyond its primary responsibilities, yet the police leadership has recognized matters critical to the nation’s safety.
As a leader, I truly appreciate initiative of the Police Chief, Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo and all his ranks for exercising his tasks and responsibilities as a leader, as the commander. He and his team have analyzed the core duties that were taught to us when we were very young, that a leader must seek out the responsibilities inherent in their role. Yes, the primary duty is to lead the Police as enforcers of the law, as the main actors in maintaining public security and order.
However, the ultimate definition of public safety and order is when the public, the people feel secure, happy, and hopeful. Every human being, regardless their religions, ethnic groups, whether they are fathers or mothers, has primary concern namely the safety and well-being of their family and children. And the first form of security is freedom from hunger.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Such program is not firstly introduced in Indonesia. Many countries have implemented it, dozens. Developed countries, democratic countries, for instance must have free nutritious meals program for their people.
Free nutritious meals may seem unnecessary for the well-off, for the rich. Yet, from my observations across the world, free nutritious meals are absolutely essential for the vast majority of people.
When I first launched the program, people mocked and slander me. I don’t understand why they mocked me because many of those people are educated, famous professors, but still they mocked me. They also said this program is bound to fail; only wasting money. That campaign slanders the elected president.
I probably get that their actions are expression of envy and grudge. However, I cannot accept that they attack something that truly needs by people whose economy is weak. It’s really saddening for me. But I believe that I am on the right track. I believe that we have the right goals.
Too many Indonesian children suffered from stunting. Stunting means lack of nutrition. Lack of nutrition prevents our cells from developed completely. Our brain cells cannot develop well. Bone cells cannot develop well. Muscle cells cannot develop well. Stunting is also a result of the process of impoverishment, a project of impoverishing the people of Indonesia. At that time, 25 percent of our children were affected by stunting.
We cannot address this issue by theory, words, and empty programs only. Finally, I learned from experiences of other countries, that the only way is through the Government’s direct intervention to the children, expecting mothers, and vulnerable elderly.
This program has been implemented by more than 77 countries. I repeat, maybe more than 75 countries. Perhaps, maybe we are the 76th or 77th country. At that time, I noticed that countries on par with us in term of GDP per capita, or even those who has lower GDP, half compared to ours, for instance, India in which its GDP per capita is half of ours, yet they dare to provide free meals for 800 million of their people, and it has been running for over 10 years. If I am not mistaken, it has passed into law, correct me if I am wrong. It has been included in the amendment of their constitution. Therefore, we also implement this program.
We are indeed facing extreme campaign of slandering me for wasting money. In fact, the money is the result of efficiency of budget, that my team and I believe, will be corrupted and will be spent to enrich certain individuals if we do not save it.
The culture of wasting the budget, misuse it, conduct unproductive activities which bring no positive impacts to the state and people continue to persist. Meetings are being held at hotels outside the city; unproductive seminars, conferences, and visits continue to persist. The people are being deceived and lied to. We want to address this. Budget for such activities will be reallocated.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our state budget has not gone beyond the parameters we have set. Our deficit is still below the limit that we ourselves established, namely 3 percent, ladies and gentlemen, 3 percent of GDP. And I am determined that we will work as hard as possible to reduce it further. In fact, we must have ambitions, we must have targets. Even if those targets are difficult to control or difficult to achieve, we must be courageous. We must become a nation that is brave, not a nation that surrenders, not a nation that admits defeat before the struggle begins.
After I was elected, I learn that there are still too many leakages, still too much waste. I want to put our bureaucracy in order. I want to safeguard the nation’s wealth. I want to protect the state assets. We will continue to work on this, we will keep working on this.
After being implemented for some time, the MBG program has benefited 60,200,000 beneficiaries, according to the report from the Head of National Nutrition Agency. It is all thanks to the role of the National Police.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Each day, we feed more than 60 million people through 22,275 Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units in 38 provinces throughout the country. The number is equal to feeding the entire population of South Africa every day, or ten times the population of Singapore every day, or twice the population of Malaysia every day.
During the first month, and second month, they said this program is bound to fail. They mocked us. Pak Qodari please compiles video clips forecasting our efforts will be in vain. Other said I humiliated the country through this program. Free Nutritious Meals is an insult for the nation. We wanted to save the children but people called us insulting the nation. This must have a digital record, yes everything is recorded. God willing, we’ve reached over 80 million. I’m asking so that every night I can look through it. That’s fine. I am questioning myself “Is that really true? Did I really insult the Indonesian nation?” Since I was young, since I was a Second Lieutenant who had nothing, I was ready to die for the Republic. How could I possibly have the heart to insult it? No. The rest of my life is only for saving and developing the Republic of Indonesia.
I want to die doing the right thing. I want to die defending truth, justice, and the safety of my people. It is an honor, an honor for a soldier to die for his people. How could I possibly want to insult them? But let them be. We only need to prove them together.
So, thank you the Indonesian National Police.
As I mentioned over and over again, the Indonesian Police has distinctive traits than that of other nations. Each state has its own history and tradition. We understand that. We also have our history. Our police was established during our struggle following the independence. Our police are made for the independence. Our police is actively fight.
Just as the Indonesian national defense force was born from the people and therefore must always remain the people’s army, our police were born from the people and must always remain the people’s police. That is what I have always advocated, and now the leaders of the Indonesian National Police truly embrace that, ladies and gentlemen.
The safety of a nation, the security of a nation lies within its people deep love towards the nation. The people have deep love to the nation and the state. The police and army are manifestations of a nation. The first representatives that people who live in remote areas see are the police and army. The state is present through its army and police.
Therefore, shall army and police understand their roles, oaths, and responsibilities they carry, they will act properly before the people, always give their best for the people. I thank the Defense Forces and the Police. Truly, I thank them. I am proud.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Previous disaster was a tragedy for all of us. But through that disaster, the people were able to see that the Defense Forces and the Police personnel went all out, fully deployed to help overcome the people’s hardships in the disaster areas. I witnessed it myself, I observed the Defense Forces (TNI), I observed the Police, as well as other ministries and agencies. And I asked, “How long have you been here?” “Twenty days, Sir.” Some had already been there for three weeks, others even a month. This once again proves that the state is present.
First, some politicians in fact were glad that disaster hit us. Disaster can make people increase their distrust to the Government, to the Republic of Indonesia. There are indeed some people who though that way, but within the weeks, we have deployed our power, joined hands to overcome the disaster.
The Head of of the Task Force for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Acceleration that we established is a police academy alumnus, a former Police Chief, our Minister of Home Affairs, Gen (ret.) Tito Karnavian, whom I appointed as Head of the Task Force. He reported to me, if I’m not mistaken, “Sir, out of 52 affected locations, 52 areas that were struck, only 10 regencies are still not yet back to normal.” He further reported that, in his estimation, within the next two months the remaining areas will return to normal.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This is the evidence that once again the main two pillars of the state, of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia are the TNI and Polri. Both institutions have proven their achievement, devotion on the ground, and sacrifice. Some personnel passed away while carrying out their duties.
Today, Polri has showed its important roles.
I have time allocated for the speech, isn’t it? What time is it now? Ten thirty? When I am excited, I tend to deliver all of my thought. It may be boring sometimes, but that is the duty of a leader. A leader is like a teacher. We are taught that a commander is our brother in arms, and also a teacher, a father. We must speak about the good things, and when something is not good, we must say so. But don’t let the good go unrecognized and unappreciated.
That is why we need to give them awards. The Police Chief is not included because he will be bestowed by higher award. I think Mahaputra (Honorary Medal) will suit him more. I asked him earlier. “Have you received Mahaputra? Not yet?” I will give Mahaputra for him. It is an honor for a leader and happiness for a father to convey appreciation to his son. It is an honor.
I understand that police has become a target. That is the risk of your job. The TNI has also become target, right? Our generals are the greatest, the most skilled personnel, right? They are insulted, accused of being war criminals, accused of violating human rights. The TNI has never bombed a hospital in their history. It has never bombed an orphanage. It has never bombed a school. It has never bombed a church or a mosque. The Western countries that teach us about human rights, right? I don’t want to make any more comment . You know what I mean, right?
In the past, there are a saying ‘njarkoni, iso ngajar ora iso ngelakoni’, you can teach it, but you can’t implement it. They taught all of us, right? Back then, the TNI were always under attack, getting beaten up, and the police, well, you also have to endure being targets. That’s the risk, isn’t it? What matters is having good intentions and making sacrifices for the nation and the country.
If there is one individual conducting wrongdoing among hundreds of thousand people in one institution, then take an action. Let’s compare it to a school. Let’s say there some naughty, disrespectful students who get into fight a lot, it’s the students who are punished, not the principal. Do not do the opposite. You don’t close the school.
But that is alright because it is the risk of a leader. You are awarded with star ranking so that you’ll be tougher. Be resilient, endure insults, endure attacks, correct? Especially when the attacks come on social media, right? On social media, there are many buzzers, right? So we have to stay strong, and most importantly, we prove ourselves to the people.
Today, I must say that I am proud and satisfied for this achievement.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Producing food means continuing the civilization. There will be no civilization, no Indonesian nation without food. Food is needed for the daily sustainability of our people. You have the initiative to produce food by utilizing the state-of-the-art technology, the best technology while still within our budget range.
I already saw the equipment that were used by the police. I saw water filter, ultraviolet machine to kill bacteria on the food tray. There are also food security test, food safety test kit produced domestically with quality no less than international standard.
This is an achievement, something to be proud of. The people should know about it. Up to today, we have produced 4.5 billion portions of food, 4.5 billion portions. And there are still shortcomings.
I received a report that up to today, approximately 28 thousand beneficiaries experienced problems, reported as food poisoning, stomach aches, and so on. Twenty-eight thousand out of 4.5 billion. If I’m not mistaken, that’s 0.0006 percent. Meaning 99.994 percent worked fine. That’s rounding up in statistics. So what does that mean? 99.999 percent was successful. Where can you find 100 percent success rate in human effort? It exists, but it’s not easy to reach.
I received a report yesterday, please verify the report and statistics I received up to today. We will maintain and improve it. There is one thing for sure that our statistics is better than Japan’s and Europe’s. I just received the report two days ago. If the figure is accurate, we should keep our chins up. Don’t be arrogant, don’t show off.
Arrogance leads to destruction, remember that. The riper the rice, the more deeply it bows. That is the proverb from our ancestors. That is the real warrior. The more we know, the more humble we become. The more we get mocked, the tougher we become. Keep smiling.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
If we get attacked or slandered, that means you are being taken seriously. That’s a lesson from history that I’ve learned. People who aren’t attacked, people who aren’t criticized, people who aren’t slandered means that they are not taken seriously. They have no influence. So, Pak Dadan, stay strong, thank you. Pak Dadan has strong knowledge too. I’m also amazed.
We should think rationally, logically, scientifically, while still having a pure heart and good intention. Our intention is noble, namely eradicating poverty and hunger.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I received report that during the past days, some regencies, regional heads confirmed their optimism on the benefits of Free Nutritious Meals (MBG). It shortens the gap. The gap between the rich and the poor is measured by the Gini ratio. They see that the Gini ratio is decreasing. Jobs are being created. One MBG kitchen, one SPPG, employed 50 people. Those who previously had no income now have job. They can help their husbands, they can help their children.
I have met with businessperson, members of the Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO). They said to me, “Sir, for the first time in ages, Indonesia’s household consumption increased drastically.” They believe this is the impact of MBG.
We also noticed that one SPPG everyday needs vegetables, eggs, chicken meat, beef, and other food. This will support local farmers and give them more income. They used to worry who will buy their yield, now they can rest assure that their production will be absorbed.
I also received report that they get competitive buyers. Nowadays, vegetable farmers don’t need to struggle. Sometimes their crops are already bought right in the field, Ladies and Gentlemen. We are now seeing the beginning of our revival.
We are on the right track. Our economy is based on the economy of our founders. Our economy is based on the 1945 Constitution. We are on the right track, and we will advance towards a success. We will surprise others and let down those praying for our downfall.
I would never want to promote hatred, fear, and suspicion towards foreigners. We should learn from them instead, but we must remain sharp. Don’t be naïve. No other nation is happy or pleased when we progress.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Polri’s initiatives to build warehouses are parts of the food security environment. We can store our productions in the warehouses. Our food reserves are stored in a safe place when we need it. Warehouses play strategic role in it. So, once again, thank you for your efforts.
The TNI and Polri are directly deployed. Foreign media expressed their criticism that President Prabowo used defense forces and police personnel to increase food production. According to them, this is not in line with their free-market ideology.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This is the people’s army; this is the people’s police. The suffering of the people is the suffering of the army. The suffering of the people is the suffering of the police. Because their personnel of the defense force and the police officers are the children of the ordinary person, right? What wealthy person would want to join the army? Who would want to become a police officer? Just ask them to stand, no need for long, just stand for one hour under the scorching sun out there. What was it? Carbon monoxide. If all police officers undergo medical checkup, maybe they have black lungs. I actually feel bad for all police. Let them be examined. I don’t dare to ask Minister of Health about percentage of police officers who suffered from lung disease. They did not complain, nevertheless.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I will keep it short. Thank you. Thank you for proving the nation, the people, and the world. We have achieved food self-sufficiency in rice production, and maze production and other food commodity will follow. We will truly stand on our own feet. Indonesia will be a strong nation, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Be strong but remain down to earth. Then we will be respected by other states. Once again we are being harassed. We know we are being harassed. Don’t think that we don’t know, right? We are not stupid. Let me say that, please, dear friends, Indonesia, Indonesians are not stupid. We know what’s happening. We know it. We know who finance black campaign to smear Indonesian nation. They are afraid we grow strong. They are afraid we prosper.
We don’t want to disturb other nation. We just want our people to live a good life. That’s all we wanted. We will prove them that our economy will revive. They, I don’t know where they come from, the so-called economists, always want to take us down. I want to ask them what are your nationality. If we watch football game, we support our respective team. But they don’t do that. They only want to belittle our achievement.
The highest-recorded household consumption, but we receive no appreciation. This month’s tax revenue, reportedly, has increased, reaching the highest in several years. But we have no problem. We work, and we prove it to the people, Ladies and Gentlemen.
We are close to our revival. The State-owned enterprises (SOEs) that for many years never made a profit, was able to increase its revenue by fourfold in just one year of our administration, from Rp89 trillion in 2024. And this will continue to rise, Ladies and Gentlemen. Only with good management. Only with good leadership. Only with the spirit of refusing to steal from the people and the Indonesian nation.
I remind all of you, regardless of your institutions, to maintain your dignity and the interest and safety of the Indonesian people in managing the people’s money. If you dare to commit practices that harm the nation and the people, the Government will use all the power at its disposal, without exception.
Once again, congratulation to the leaders of Indonesian National Police. Thank you for your achievement and devotion. Keep up the good work. The closer you get to the people, the more love you receive from them, and the safer, stronger, and more orderly Indonesia become.
Thank you.
Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
May peace be upon us all,
Shalom,
Salve,
Om santi santi santi om,
Namo buddhaya,
Greeeting of Virtue,
Thank you.
Keep up the good work. Merdeka (Independence)!
By saying bismillahirahmanirrahim, this morning, Friday, February 13, 2026, I, Prabowo Subianto, President of the Republic of Indonesia, inaugurate 1,072 Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units and 18 Food Security Warehouses, as well as commence the construction of 107 Police’s Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units across Indonesia. Thank you. (RAS/LW)