• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The component cities of Cadiz and Bago in Negros Occidental have emerged as among the top 10 local government units in the country in this year’s Walang Gutom Awards of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Galing Pook Foundation.
The awards for the cities of Cadiz and Bago were received yesterday by their respective local chief executives, Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. and Mayor Nicholas Yulo, from no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at Malacañang Palace in Manila.
Cadiz was chosen among the top four local governments in the component city category in the maiden “Walang Gutom” Awards led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), for its Project PAT-BAGSIK (Pagkaon Aton Tatapon-Bata Aton Giyahan sa Iya Kaalam) – a holistic approach to sustainable food security.
Mayor Salvador Escalante, Jr. said Project PAT-BAGSIK was a “twin-track” approach in solving both hunger and poverty in Cadiz City.
“It’s also a whole-of-the-government approach that enhances integration, coordination, collaboration and the overall capacity to address interconnected issues in food security, poverty, hunger and malnutrition,” he added.
In simple parlance, it’s a “womb-to-tomb” initiative to take care not just of the health, but almost the total well-being of Cadiznons from all walks of life, which was conceived and born in 2010, he said.
Project PAT was conceptualized by then-mayor Patrick Escalante, which coincided with his nickname Pat, just as a feeding program in all public elementary schools in Cadiz with 25,000 kid beneficiaries.
Mayor Yulo said that the award given by the national government is a validation of the sustained efforts of the Bago City government in implementing programs and projects bannering the welfare and well-being of every Bagonhon.
Bago’s “Food Staples Sufficiency Program” is one of the top 17 national finalists out of 101 entries nationwide. Like other winning entries, it was chosen based on a comprehensive set of criteria including its impact on food security and nutrition, engagement of communities, innovation, resilience, sustainability, and efficiency in service delivery.
While we took up the cudgels for the President’s call to end hunger, Yulo said it is a challenge for them to sustain and improve further on their programs.
More than the recognition, he added that the award will further motivate the city government to continue pushing forth food sufficiency initiatives “as we aim to alleviate the lives of our people and as we look forward to achieving a food-secure and hunger-free Bago City.”
Escalante and Yulo each received a P2 million funding allocation from the agency’s Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), from President Marcos Jr. and Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian.*
