Jeepalengke in Caloocan City
MANILA, Philippines — If the quarantined consumers can’t go to the market, then bring the market to them.
Local government units in locked down Luzon have improvised ways to ensure the distressed citizens’ easier access to food.
In Caloocan City, 25 jeepneys are making the rounds in the city to sell vegetables and rice at a lower price.
“Mas murang di hamak ang presyo sa Jeepalengke kesa sa palengke,” Mayor Oscan Malapitan told INQUIRER.net. “Isa pa, sa Jeepalengke nasisigurado ang social hygiene, social distancing.”
At the same time, the city government project helps jeepney drivers who have no source of livelihood following the suspension of public transportation in Luzon.
“Ang mga produktong ito ay galing sa ating masisipag na magsasaka. Ang lahat ng pera na mapagbebentahan ng mga produktong ito ay ibibigay rin sa mga magsasaka,” the city government said on its website. The project is in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture.
The “Jeepalengke” makes rounds from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The city government advises residents in Caloocan City to visit its Facebook page to know the schedules of the mobile market.
In Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro, Mayor Arnan Panaligan launched the PUI, short for Palengkeng Umi-Ikot.
The mobile market sells fish, meat, vegetables, and groceries.
Similar stores were earlier launched by other cities in Metro Manila, including Pasig and Valenzuela City, in a bid to help their residents cope up with the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine implemented by the national government to help curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.
Mayor Abby Binay said a similar initiative called the “Makati Mart” was initially rolled out in Barangays Olympia and Rizal on Monday.