Dan Ludovice of the Naga City Urban Poor Federation (NCUPFI) coordinates between his federation and the Bicol Urban Poor Coordinating Council.

According to Ludovice, Naga City’s challenge is less about addressing the local public health crisis of Covid-19 and more about improving the economic condition of its daily wage earners as a consequence of the pandemic. “Hindi makalabas ang mga tao upang magtrabaho. Yung isang daily wage earner kapag hindi nakapagtrabaho ng isang araw, siguradong apektado na ang susunod na araw niya (People could not go out to work. The life of a daily wage earner who could not work for even just one day would surely be affected for more days.)”

He also noted that the local government assisted mostly with food, but communities had other non-food needs. Since the nationwide lockdown began, getting face masks, hand sanitizers, and alcohol became taxing. Supplies were lacking and costly. Because of Naga’s ease of access to neighboring towns, people travelled to the city to run their errands. The surge of people resulted in congestion, such that even local Naga residents found it difficult to move around their city. To solve this, the local government set a schedule for local visitors to enter/exit the city.

Recommendations from NCUPFI

The NCUPFI coordinates closely with the local government unit (LGU) of Naga City in providing solutions for the locals. The LGU recognizes their suggestions. NCUPFI requested face masks from the LGU Naga and alcohol from friends and personal networks. Mr. Ludovice explained, “Pinush naming magkaron ng ‘Market on Wheels’ ang Naga. Nagbigay sila ng sasakyan para sa mga vendors ng market. Sinabi namin sa vendors kung ano ang kailangan ng mga tao para hindi na sila lumabas nang malayo.” [“We suggested to the LGU to provide a ‘Market on Wheels’. They now have a vehicle for market vendors. We told the vendors what the community needs so people don’t have to travel far.”]

Aside from the mobile market, the Naga City LGU also picked up NCUPFI’s recommendation to assign the barangay tanod (barangay peace and security officer) to help. In every area, there were at least two tanods with motorcycle stationed near the barricade. City residents, particularly the senior citizens, could request the tanods to buy anything for them.

Food and sustainability

The federation did not want farmers’ produce to go to waste just because they didn’t have transportation. NCUPFI proposed to the LGU to purchase the farmers’ harvest of fresh vegetables, root crops, and fruits and to give these out to people in communities in dire need.

NCUPFI also utilized its connection with the Naga City Chamber of Commerce, which referred them to a state college with a Hotel and Restaurant Management program. The kitchen was used to cook food for thousands of citizens daily – to the needy as well as to frontliners. NCUPFI also coordinated with the Missionaries of the Poor for distribution of food packs.

NCUPFI was aware that they needed to do something long-term and sustainable. Mr. Ludocive declared, “Yung budget namin for the year, imbis na gamitin sa training at sa travel, ni-realign namin. Inilagay namin ang more than 1 Million Pesos ng budget sa urban gardening. Pinangalanan namin ang project na ito bilang ‘Sapat at masustansyang pagkain sa tabi ng bahay’.”[“We realigned our budget which was supposedly for travel and training. We used more than 1 Million Pesos for urban gardening. We named this project as ‘Sufficient and healthy food near the house’.”]

The urban gardening project is NCUPFI’s solution to provide nutritious foods that are readily available even in times of disaster, including the Covid-19 pandemic. Locals were provided net, seeds, garden tools, garden soil, and compost. The federation also realloted its budget for a new role as product consolidator of the community’s surplus harvest. “Federation yung bibili ng harvest at kami magmamarket. Kailangan lang nila magproduce.”[“The federation will buy the harvest. They just need to produce crops.”]

NCUPFI proves that no man is an island. It takes collaboration between the LGU and their network to provide local solutions during the pandemic.

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