Buy food from local producers amid COVID-19 situation --- Catamco

COTABATO CITY ---- North Cotabato’s provincial government has recommended the dispersal of relief supplies obtainable in the locality --- meat, fish and vegetables --- to residents who need food amid the continuing anti-coronavirus lockdown in the province.

Gov. Nancy Catamco said Thursday she has ordered the provincial social welfare office to study the viability of supplying food procured from local farmers to needy residents to cushion the adverse impact of the COVID-19 problem to the provincial economy. 

North Cotabato covers 17 towns and more than 40 barangays in Kidapawan City, its capital.

“For now we have sufficient supply of livestock and vegetables we can obtain from agricultural areas in the province. We also have an abundance of fresh water fishes from the marshes around,” Catamco said Thursday.

A number of North Cotabato towns are near central Mindanao’s Liguasan Delta from where local fisherfolk harvest endemic fishes, such as tilapia, mudfish, catfish and carp, that they sell to the markets every day. 

“All these can be done through the cooperation of the local government units and the provincial government,” Catamco said.

She said procurement of food supplies from local producers have to be done according to state accounting regulations.

“This is now the time to help our farmers complaining about low prices of grains and fruits from their farms,” Catamco said.

Catamco said different farmers’ organizations are now complaining that the enhanced community quarantine being imposed in different provinces have stalled their supposed shipment of fruits and other farm products to traders outside of North Cotabato.

“We can either buy from these producers, or help connect them to potential buyers as marketing support and, in so doing, keep the economy stable while we have these quarantine restrictions everywhere,” Catamco said.