Soldiers, cops take rolling stores to Lanao del Sur villages

ILIGAN CITY—The practice of bringing the market closer to the people, which Pasig City started last month, is now being implemented in the provinces of Lanao del Sur in Mindanao and Laguna in Luzon as communities are placed on enhanced quarantine to contain the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The rolling stores in Lanao del Sur are operated by policemen and soldiers as deliveries in the province tightened amid a series of lockdowns in central and northern Mindanao, its food source.

Soldiers of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade and policemen from Lanao del Sur on Tuesday started making the rounds in the towns, their vehicles loaded not with guns but with grocery items for sale.

“This is our way of helping the people in our areas of operation. We have yet [to rise] from the [Marawi] siege and here we are, fighting again [against the virus],” said Col. Jose Maria Cuerpo, brigade commander.

Reasonably priced

Cuerpo said the mobile stores hoped to bring reasonably priced goods to residents around Lake Lanao, who had found it difficult to go to Marawi City, the commercial center, as public transport was suspended throughout the province.

Lanao del Sur has been on lockdown since March 19, allowing people to travel only to buy food and medicines, and to seek medical attention.

The provincial government, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Lanao Chamber of Commerce thought of the rolling stores to counter overpricing in temporary markets or “talipapa.”

They organized the pool of grocery items, including rice, canned sardines, noodles and coffee, which the soldiers and cops sell.

Three teams each from the Army and police will have scheduled visits in every town. The stores are open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., before the 12-hour curfew starts.

“In this kind of war, if the public will not cooperate, if we will not help them, it is not only civilians who will lose in the battle against COVID-19 but also us, police and Army personnel who are in the front line,” said Police Col. Madzgani Mukaram, provincial police chief.

Helping farmers

In Laguna, roving markets were launched in the towns of Pila and Cavinti and the City of Santa Rosa to decongest public markets and to limit movement as the Luzon-wide lockdown entered its third week.

The Pila mobile store opened on Thursday and will run until April 5. It will go to select villages from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and offer vegetables, meat, rice and some grocery items, said municipal secretary Ulysses Ochoa.

The Cavinti mobile market, a joint project by the local government and the Samahang Magbubukid Angat Pangkabuhayan (SMAP), started on Wednesday and would visit each village on designated days. Vegetables, fish, chicken and pork from local farmers are sold, said Maribel Conde, SMAP secretary.

Sta. Rosa started its “Rolling Palengke” on Wednesday in the village of Dita.

In Luisiana town, the local government has been promoting its “TiendDAs de Luisiana,” which started in September last year, to help local farmers sell their harvests. Market days are Monday, Wednesday and Friday. —REPORTS FROM DIVINA SUSON AND KIMMY BARAOIDAN