By Butch Fernandez & Manuel T. Cayon
Senator Imee Marcos gave full credit Sunday to “Diskarteng Pinoy” innovation that quickly solved the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPEs) for medical personnel tasked to stop the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
“The Filipino ability to adapt and survive amid adversity, colloquially known as diskarte, is solving the lack of PPE for medical frontliners fighting to stop the spread of Covid-19,” Marcos said over the weekend.
In a statement, the Senator prodded the Department of Health and the Department of Trade and Industry to speed up approval of a PPE prototype submitted by the garment exports industry. Marcos added its 300,000 workers are ready to augment the country’s short supply of PPEs amid a global shortage in medical equipment.
According to her, the PPE prototype’s prompt approval will mean continued employment for garment workers in Taytay and give hope to more sewers in Cavite and other garment-producing communities in the country.
The Senator expressed confidence that Filipinos’ talent for innovation (“Diskarteng Pinoy”) is the key to surmounting the threat posed by the deadly virus.
Marcos, chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs, pointed out that funding industries badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and helping them adapt their production to crucially needed goods is part of the coping mechanisms of the P750-billion “Pag-ASA: Alaga, Sustento, Angat” program that she proposed via Senate Bill 1414.
Mindanao food supply
Provincial governors in Mindanao have agreed to make an inventory of existing food stocks and identify production areas where supplies can be sourced, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said.
The MinDA said engaging the governors is part of the Self-Sustaining Food Security Strategy (SSFSS), a MinDA program to link the provincial governments with one another to ensure stable food supply for their constituents.
MinDA crafted the SSFSS earlier this week in the face of the threat that uncoordinated food supply distribution in Mindanao could create artificial shortages.
The SSFSS aims to ensure that the local government units (LGUs) were able to quantify their current food supply inventory of basic food commodities like rice, eggs, poultry, meat and fruits like banana and identify individuals or groups which could undertake sustained food production.
The SSFSS would identify neighboring LGUs which would have excess production of any food commodity. This would enable LGUs to forge an alliance with two or more LGUs to establish a symbiotic food supply relationship and establish a marketing and distribution system.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, MinDA Chairman Emmanuel F. Piñol said Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang earlier said his province would need additional rice supply and he was told that the neighboring province of Davao de Oro under Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy may have excess production.
North Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco informed MinDA she was ready to implement the SSFSS in her province which she said would include the distribution of upland rice seeds to complement production in lowland areas.
MinDA said that under SSFSS, the provincial government would also distribute vegetable seeds and backyard chicken breeders to encourage farmers to produce more food. The LGUs would buy the farmers chicken, hog, egg and vegetable products for distribution to residents as food assistance.
“We don’t know how long the problem would last that is why we have to be prepared,” Catamco said.
Sulu Governor Sakur Tan, reported that his province has sufficient food supply, especially cassava, a staple food for the Tausug residents.
MinDA is also helping neighboring Tawi-Tawi Governor Ysmael Sali transport some 2,000 metric tons of rice from Iloilo Province to Bongao, according to Piñol.
MinDA has also appealed to families, especially those in farms, to undertake simple food production activities like vegetable growing and raising chicken.
“This leads to creating a localized market for farmers’ and fishermen’s produce whose distribution is impaired by the existing lockdowns,” Pinol added.
“The lockdowns implemented by the different local government units due to the Covid-19 pandemic could also affect food supply distribution,” he added.
The SSFSS is expected to ensure sufficient food production and sound distribution method in the different areas in Mindanao, he said.