MANILA, Philippines — The country’s agriculture chief has assured retailers and consumers that public markets in Metro Manila will continue to operate despite the enhanced community quarantine being implemented in the whole of Luzon.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a television interview that public markets were part of the “essential” establishments that President Duterte had exempted from the lockdown, which also included banks, supermarkets and pharmacies.
The clarification was prompted by the lack of clarity in the released guidelines, which suspended the operations of public transport such as jeepneys, buses, taxis, and UV Express.
In effect, employees of establishments that offer basic goods and services without private vehicles were left to ponder how they could continue going to work.
“We have to ensure that all the agricultural products would be made available to all residents of Metro Manila so public markets would continue to operate,” Dar said. “We hope checkpoint officials would adjust since we already talked to IATF (Interagency Task Force).”
To bridge further gaps, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it was also set to roll out the two-mode “Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita” programs with local government units (LGUs) to improve access to food supply.
Under the Kadiwa, DA would identify suppliers that could supply food requirements for various residential areas affected by the imposed Luzon-wide quarantine.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista said the initiative aimed to provide cities and municipalities ample food supply based on the specific food requirement and volume as identified by their respective LGUs.
Under the first mode, DA would facilitate the linkage of LGUs to food producers and the delivery of identified products. Under the second mode, DA would help LGUs by identifying drop-off points for agricultural products like the Bureau of Plant Industry in Malate, Manila; Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig City; and the DA Quezon City central office.