City of Tagum Mayor Allan Rellon is willing to continue giving his constituents free and donated food provisions especially to those of low income but not through the setting up of community pantries.
Guesting in the Network Briefing with the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) aired through Radio Pilipinas, Rellon expressed his preference for food and goods to be delivered directly to intended beneficiaries.
“So kung purpose natin ay wala talagang magkulang ng pagkain mabigyan sila (So if our purpose is to ensure no one should be short of food), let’s go to their places, to their houses,” he told PCOO Assistant Secretary JV Arcena who anchored the Network Briefing in the absence of Secretary Martin Andanar who was attending to the burial of his late Father.
Rellon disclosed that youth organizations in the city expressed interest to organize and run community pantries in several strategic areas, among which that were identified was at the Freedom Park at the vicinity of Tagum Historical Cultural Center.
“Pero dahil nakita namin na ang Tagum ay maliit lang (We have seen that Tagum City is just small [community]), we have 23 barangays and we have approximately 100 (000) families and 90 (000) plus households so kaya naming i-house- to-house,” he said citing his discussion with youth organizations which presented the idea of putting up community pantries in Tagum.
Rellon appreciated the plans of youth organizations in Tagum to gather vegetables among other food and goods from well-off families for their supposed to be community pantries.
“If these will be gathered, we will do the same approach ‘yong house-to-house namin,” Rellon said referring to “Duaw Amuma” meaning “visit to care”, which the city government had already waged last year in the midst of community lockdown quarantine policy triggered by the pandemic.
Deploying City Hall personnel with participation of those in the Sanggunian Panlalawigan, the City Government delivered rice supply among other food provisions and family essentials through house-to-house visits.
“Sabi ko sa kanila I think we will use that muna ang mekanismo na ‘yan kung ano ang mga donations, isabaay natin sa ating Duaw Amuma (that mechanism and whatever would be donated, we will bring them along during Duaw Amuma),” he said.
“Ganun na lang siguro para mag synchronize tayo sa ating mga panawagan na as much as possible stay at home. Ang lalabas lang ang mga essentials, mga nagtatrabaho, yong importante lang talaga na lalabas. (That would be so, to synchronize our call to as much as possible stay at home. The ones going out would just be those going out for essentials, workers and those running for very important concerns),” he said.
He made this emphasis as he would like to avoid kindling public impression that the city government is enticing household repesentatives to go out home to community pantries where they can pick free food provisions and other goods.
‘’If we will promote that we are inviting people to go out from their houses and converge In that area, so marami tayong ise-secure (we would be securing more),” Rellon said.
Rellon wanted to keep at bay the COVID-19 positive cases which he positively projected to soar if people would be allowed to converge. He revealed that the City’s Inter-agency Task Force on COVID-19 has yet to fully check community transmission of COVID-19 in Tagum. (PIA XI/ Jeanevive Duron Abangan)
