MUNICIPAL Mayor Gabino Ganggangan of Sadanga, Mountain Province made a brave decision by refusing to avail food packs for his constituents even though the lockdown may be extended.
“It’s not that we don’t have poor and needy families but I believe that we as tribal communities still have and should sustain our built-in and homegrown or indigenous social structure, values, and practice of taking care of our respective relatives or kin, neighbors ,or kailyan in distress during hard times or economic crisis,” the mayor said in his public notice March 30.
Ganggangan after learning that some relief food packs sent by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DSWD–CAR) are available at the Provincial Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) in Bontoc decided and instructed the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office to relay his message that the municipality will not be availing of those food packs.
“It is during these kinds of economic hardships such as food shortages, hunger and famine that the richer or better of (kadangyans) among a clan or village are expected to aid their needy relatives by lending their surpluses.” Ganggangan added.
He said that if this crisis will be extended for a longer time and the needy families really run out of their rice supplies, Ganggangan will mandate the rich of every barangay to open up their rice granaries to sustain their community through to the next harvest season.
“I assure that no family will go hungry in our municipality even during these hard times. Let the national government feed those more needy urban poors in the cities and those less fortunate in other areas who can’t sustain themselves, while we sustain ourselves while we can. Again, I enjoin everyone to cooperate with our efforts to shield our municipality from this Covid–19,” the mayor stated. (PR)