ANGELES CITY -- One of the new visions of Mayor Carmelo "Pogi" Lazatin, Jr. to secure Angeleños amid the health crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic is through the “Luntian sa Barangay Lingap Project,” a sustainable program for food security.
This aims to encourage Angeleños to use their vacant lot and practice gardening in the comfort of their homes.
Various seeds such as petsay, mustasa, okra, and ampalaya were distributed to more than 150,000 households in the city alongside food packs during the series of distribution.
The said distribution was supervised by Lazatin's Chief Adviser and Tactician Director IC Calaguas and Executive Assistant IV Reina Manuel with key offices - City Social Welfare Development Office, led by Edna Duaso, and City Engineer's Office, led by Engineer Donato Dizon.
The Olalia family, residents of Barangay Margot who received a food pack with seeds, started their planting journey in April. They managed to grow a mini garden in his backyard.
Urban-gardening at its finest
In a city where the land designated for agriculture is just more than 20 percent of 6,337.39 hectares, there is this project like urban-gardening to assist Angeleños amid the Covid-19 pandemic where every livelihood is at stake. Since the community quarantine was imposed in the entire Luzon, business establishments were shut down which stopped the economy's flow.
Just a few months of planting, the Olalia family now has an extra source of food. It also taught his kids to value the essence of vegetables to their health.
Food security, an adequate resource of food, healthy living, and prioritizing the health and welfare of every constituent are what Lazatin wants to instill in every Angeleño, especially in this trying time.
Moreover, in Barangay Balibago, a shop named Impact Balibago Arts and Crafts owned by Joey Pamintuan, also used his vacant lot to plant the free seeds he received from the city government.
To date, he is already harvesting the vegetables he planted.
According to him, his mini-garden put food on their family’s table, and to his workers’ families.
As a vegetable lover who also has a green thumb, this eases his family's burden amid the quarantine. This also has been his hobby during the lockdown, stress-free and a way to release anxiety, he said.
He also appreciates the assistance of the City Agriculture Office which went to every village to teach them how to plant the seeds.
Lazatin said the city government will continue to secure the welfare of every family in Angeles City with or without a pandemic. (PR)