MANKAYAN, Benguet– Connecting with the national agencies and other stakeholders to secure COVID vaccines for the constituents especially the farmers is a priority moving forward plan of the municipal local government alongside its continuing effort to minimize and manage the disease in its jurisdiction.
“We need to secure vaccines for our farmers to be able to establish food security “, Mayor Frenzel Ayong said during the Laging Handa Network Briefing News hosted by PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar.
The local chief executive stressed the need to safeguard the health and safety of the farmers who are working hard to ensure food sufficiency even during the pandemic.
“Kailangan tuloy-tuloy ang galaw ng mga farmers natin to secure the provision of food para sa atin and sa other parts of the Philippines,” Ayong said citing that 80 percent of the semi-temperate vegetable supply in the country comes from Benguet.
He also reported that the local farmers, despite being affected by the pandemic themselves, have been donating their produce to the people of Mankayan and other parts of Benguet, and nearby areas.
In the national vaccination program, priority sectors to be immunized are frontline healthcare workers and vulnerable sectors such as senior citizens and indigents.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr had said that LGUs play a significant role in the COVID-19 vaccination program like identifying the priority sectors to be vaccinated. **JDP/RMC-PIA CAR
