ILOILO City – While placed under enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak, a total of 15,278 households in the town of Sara in Iloilo province will receive fresh vegetables from its local government unit.
Mayor Jon Aying said that the local government unit already started the distribution yesterday.
Beneficiaries will receive vegetables like squash, eggplant, green beans, bitter gourd, along with two kilograms of rice, four canned goods and four packs of noodles.
“We are distributing vegetables because we need to increase the endurance, the resistance of our locals. If we maintain good resistance, we can hardly be infected by the COVID-19, the mayor said.
The distribution of the said products is also a way to help the local farmers.
“Our local farmers are also affected. We are buying from them so that our economic activities here will not be hampered,” Aying added.
Municipal officials helped in the repacking of vegetables and other food packs, while the village officials were tasked to distribute the said supplies to their respective villages on a house-to-house basis, or to gather their residents, provided that they will observe social distancing.
“We also have the Municipal Ecumenical Advisory Council and an association of churches here, which help us in the repacking and distribution,” the mayor said.
Aside from the distribution of food packs, the local government unit also encourages its locals to grow vegetables in their backyards.
“I always reiterate to our village chiefs to encourage their constituents to plant vegetables. We are on quarantine and in case this lasts long, after two months, we can harvest,” he said.
The town also anticipates a P1 million aid from the provincial government, adding that they already completed the needed requirements.
Once the financial assistance arrives, it would help its local government unit to augment food packs for the quarantine-affected households.
Also, to ensure that all of its residents will have access to basic goods, Sara town organized its business sector and helped boost the capabilities of the convenience stores in the villages.
“We divided the 42 villages here into four, and each cluster will be supplied with their primary needs through the convenience stores” Aying said.
He added that the town’s public market is still accessible for its residents living in nearby villages.
The measures being applied by the local government unit of the town are parts of the bid in containing the spread of the COVID-19.(With a report from PNA/PN)
It’s not true.we received 1kilo of rice 2 Noddles and 2 sardines in barangay Ferraris Sara Iloilo.check this people because it’s not true