Negros Occidental farmers donate face masks to health frontliners

MANILA, Philippines — Health workers at the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19 in Negros Occidental have received much-needed help from local farmers who designed, produced, and donated face masks.

The Jerusalem Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (JARBA) in Negros Occidental 1-North distributed face masks to health workers in their barangay, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said Wednesday.

“The face masks, an essential personal protective equipment (PPE), were delivered and turned-over to Barangay Captain Jimmy A. Diosana, in the presence of the barangay Midwife Soledad Magbanua and the rest of the health workers of the community,” JARBA chair Rosavilla Fuentebella said.

Citing Fuentebella, DAR said in a statement that farmer-members “still recognized and prioritized the needs of others and initiated to give their shares in their fight against the global pandemic” despite the lack of resources.

“Such a humble act of selflessness. That is what we all need in these hard and trying times,” Fuentabella noted.

The JARBA chairperson also stressed that farmers are “unsung heroes” and are the frontliners in the production and delivery of food, which remains as one of the most essential needs amid the enhanced community quarantine that was imposed to curb the transmission of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the severe respiratory ailment.

DAR explained that JARBA is an agrarian reform cooperative that is composed of agrarian reform beneficiaries who are holders of Certificates of Land Ownership Award from four nearby haciendas in Barangay Jerusalem, Cadiz City in Negros Occidental.

The Negros Occidental Provincial Board on Tuesday approved a P198.1 million supplemental budget, part of which will be used to boost the province’s capabilities to fight the pandemic.