Muntinlupa City: DOTr commits to help boost COVID-19 response efforts

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur P. Tugade has committed to help improve the response efforts of the local government of Muntinlupa against COVID-19 during the conduct of the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemics (CODE) Team visit in the city on 04 September 2020.

The visiting CODE Team was composed of Secretary Tugade, BCDA President and CEO and National Task Force Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon, and officials from the Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The visit was held to conduct a dialogue between the national government with the local government of Muntinlupa, under the leadership of Mayor Jaime Fresnedi, on how to improve and implement key measures and strategies to address the COVID-19 situation at the community level.

To recall, in August, Cabinet Secretaries were assigned to act as “big brothers” to local officials, who shall aggressively pursue the government’s National Action Plan against COVID-19 in high-risk areas in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. Secretary Tugade was assigned in Muntinlupa.

In his assessment and remarks at the event, Secretary Tugade lauded Muntinlupa’s existing response efforts, including its systematic processes, facilities, and efficient people and leaders, as essential factors in combating the dreaded disease. This, as the Muntinlupa LGU has effective local initiatives for testing, contact tracing and treatment, such as the establishment of molecular laboratory, crematorium facilities, and isolation facilities.

To intensify the said initiatives, the transportation chief has committed to help boost the isolation measures being enforced by the city. This will be carried out by tapping the resources of hotels, pension houses, and resort houses to accommodate patients who need isolation.

Secretary Tugade also shared that an additional isolation facility will be built within the city through the help of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar.

Moreover, through the CODE Team, other necessary COVID-19 efforts are being amplified, such as the fast-tracking of Muntinlupa’s molecular laboratory accreditation, providing the additional PCR machine in the molecular laboratory in Ospital ng Muntinlupa, and following-up of additional five (5) ambulances from the Health Department.

On 20 August 2020, Muntinlupa City also received a fully-equipped ambulance, which was a donation from Foton Motors PH Inc. that was facilitated by Secretary Tugade.

Moreover, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory has also recently approved several jeepney and UV Express routes in Muntinlupa.

"Marami pa po ang dapat gawin. Ngunit itong mga ginagawa natin ngayon ang magbibigay-tibay sa puso at liderato ng administrasyong Duterte na tutulong at tutulong sa isang siyudad na kagaya ng Muntinlupa," Secretary Tugade said.

"Dito natin nakita ‘yung pagsisikap ng National Government, lalo na po sa pamamagitan ni Secretary Tugade na [tulungang] tumayo ang Muntinlupa. Maraming-maraming salamat po,” Muntinlupa City Mayor Jaime Fresnedi said.

Nanay Teting: A Mother of Many Ways

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Teting Purma, 37, also known as Nanay Teting of Sitio Gaang, Brgy. Panaytayan in Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro, is known by her peers as a woman of many ways. Her family belongs to the Hanunuo-Mangyan Indigenous Group who can produce good quality agricultural crops.

Wearing different hats every day

Nanay Teting sells walis tingting (coconut midrib broom). She makes it by herself and sells it to the nearest public market. Once a week, her husband, Tatay Lino climbs up to coconut trees to check if which fronds can be harvested. Cost ranges from Php 20.00 to Php 50.00, depending on the bundle size. Their profit, however, will still depend on how many brooms they can sell in a day.

Nanay Teting recognizes very well that selling walis tingting is not enough to sustain their big family, so she thought of another enterprise. Her second business venture is piggery. She currently owns native pigs – one sow and three piglets. Once the piglets have grown, she plans to buy another sow to produce more pigs.

Apart from making walis tingting and raising pigs, Nanay Teting is also into farming particularly in planting avocado trees. She sells avocado along with her walis tingting. Nanay Teting’s initial profit in selling avocado turned out well. She realized that planting fruit trees poses the potential to be a profitable enterprise that is why she decided to explore other crops to plant.

When the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in partnership with other government agencies, conducted skills training on dragon fruit propagation, Nanay Teting was one of the recipients of the initiative. After receiving skills training and farm inputs through DSWD’s Sustaining Support Services Intervention (SSI) project for the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) beneficiaries, she started to capitalize on planting dragon fruit trees.

New doors for Nanay Teting

Admittedly, she said that it is hard to propagate such a type of cutting.  Nanay Teting encountered a lot of challenges -– from the type of soil, source of water, and the fact that she has never even seen a dragon fruit in her life. But she never lost hope. She recognized that what she needs is more information in propagating dragon fruits. That is why she and her tribe requested for another skills training on dragon fruit propagation, product development, and management from DSWD. On this training, they were provided with additional cuttings of dragon fruit trees and more in-depth knowledge on how to manage it. Nanay Teting applied it to her farm and strictly followed what she learned. She eventually reaped what she sowed.

“Masaya at namangha ang mga anak ko…dahil noon lamang kami nakakita ng bunga ng dragon fruit”, excitedly told by Nanay Teting when she saw the first fruit from their farm. After weeks of waiting, it was in August 2020 when she proudly harvested 52 kilos of dragon fruits from her 100 sqms. farm. She was able to sell it and earned Php 5,200.00. Her children also gained an interest in farming. After school, they help Nanay Teting in maintainingheir farm. Their experience in growing this crop made Nanay Teting’s family closer and provided wider opportunities for them. This convinced her and Tatay Lino to expand their farm operation by investing another 100 sqms lot dedicated for dragon fruit production.

Just like her experience in putting up her many enterprises, she also went through trial and error.  Some may seem hard to do but with determination and patience, nothing is impossible. At the end of the day, a mother is truly tested based on how she weathers every storm. For Nanay Teting, the center of her life is her family and she will do everything to secure a better living condition for them. She believes that her “many ways”, her walis tingting, piggery, avocado fruits, and now, the dragon fruit production, with conviction and perseverance, will surely help reach her goal.

Mindoro: Getting Through the Storm

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Mindoro is one of the most promising agricultural provinces in the country. Aside from being one of the major producers of rice, the island also yields many crops that vary from highland, lowland, root crops, among others. The fertile soil and rainy climate not only provide good quality of produce but also allowed the people to prosper in terms of agricultural and social advancement.

However, as many progress, others find it hard to get by. One of them is Nanay Juaning Kabato, 61, who belongs to the Mangyan Iraya indigenous group. The Iraya tribe is a group of Indigenous People (IP) living in a Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Area (GIDA) that capitalizes on agricultural activities as their main source of food supply and livelihood. Her tribe is located at Sitio Barogante in Barangay Alacaak, Sta. Cruz, Occidental Mindoro. Iraya’s yields vary from rice, banana, beans, sweet potato, and other root crops that are mostly grown in Occidental Mindoro.

Nanay Juaning’s family relies on their produce as sustenance for her family. She has two kids, Erwin and Lia. Both go to school through the Alternative Learning System (ALS). Her husband, on the other hand, depends on kaingin to support their family.

Despite many opportunities the land may offer, the area is prone to typhoons. In fact, in a year, at least four to five typhoons pass by the area. The typhoons not only devastated homes, but worse, affected crops, damaged yield, and distressed their livelihood in general.

A test of resiliency

One typhoon that Nanay Juaning recalls is Typhoon Josie which nearly devastated almost half of her crops last July 2018. She mentioned that the typhoon uprooted several of her crops and soaked some of her stored produce.

But the Iraya is known for resiliency. For them, the typhoon is merely but a challenge to overcome. More so, right after the typhoon, she collected whatever was left of her crops and started again. She gathered the seeds that can be reused and replanted it.

Days after the typhoon, Nanay Juaning’s farms started to prosper again. Sprouts from the replanted seeds were seen and buds another hope for her family. Though half of her farm was destroyed, Nanay Juaning never lost courage.

Budding Hope for Nanay Juaning

In good faith, after a year, the DSWD, in partnership with several government agencies, assisted Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) beneficiaries like Nanay Juaning and 20 other members of her tribe to recover from the damages brought by Typhoon Josie. Innovations in farming were introduced to the Iraya tribe.

Under the DSWD’s Sustaining Support Services Intervention (SSI) project, training on modern farming was conducted. It includes skills training on different root crop propagation, strategies to prevent pest manifestation, and modern techniques in rice production. Moreover, training on organic fertilizer production was provided which can help Nanay Juaning and her tribe lessen their operational expense. Apart from the training, supplemental seedlings were also provided.
Nanay Juaning used the assistance to improve her farm and stand again after being struck by the typhoon. Now, she and her tribe boast many crops from their farm such as banana, ginger, rice, corn, vegetables, and notably—grapes. Likewise, the Iraya tribe became more persistent to further learn about innovations in farming.

Presently, Nanay Juaning’s yields can support their family in terms of food supply, but she sees the farm produce as an opportunity to later on earn additional income. If the profit from her produce turns well, she plans to expand their farm and explore other crops to propagate.