• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Cadiz City in Negros Occidental is a finalist for the “Walang Gutom” Awards of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), with its entry Project PAT-BAGSIK or Pagkaon Aton Tatapon-Bata Aton Giyahan sa Iya Kaalam.
Mayor Salvador Escalante, Jr. and some Cadiz City department heads will go through a panel interview at DSWD Central Office in Quezon City on June 25.
It will be followed by the awarding ceremony on June 26, at a venue to be announced later.
“It’s awe-inspiring to note that we are among the finalists now in the national level,” Escalante said, stressing also that it indicates that the city government is serious in addressing hunger and poverty in Cadiz City.
He said Project PAT-BAGSIK now is like a “from womb to tomb,” whole-of-the-city government approach, with an ultimate aim to address hunger at all cost.
The project’s origin, a feeding program in Cadiz City schools, was started by former Mayor Patrick Escalante,which further boosted by the city-wide drive against hunger, by his brother, Salvador Jr., who succeeded him
Escalante said he instituted a multi-faceted strategy, involving departments concerned to come up with their respective drawn initiatives – all related to solving hunger problem, with a goal “Zero hunger in Cadiz.”
The recalibrated Project PAT-BAGSIK dwelled first on an anti-malnutrition crusade, and moved to prioritizing pregnant women’s and infants’ nutritional needs through Project B.A.D.I.N.G. (Busong Aton Depensahan, Ika-ayong lawas sang Nanay aton Gina-tipigan).
It was followed by the “Magulay na Buhay” project, a distinctive element of the Cadiz City Supplementary Feeding Program (CCSFP) in all Child Development Centers (CD), formerly Day Care Centers (DCC), in the city.
The DepEd’s “Gulayan sa Paaralan” was also sustained and boosted alongside community-based organic farming, benefiting over 23,000 school kids in Cadiz.
Escalante also reported that the City Agriculture’s Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB) allocations for farm equipment and facilities and the establishment of Mobile Market (MM) are also gaining ground, which enables Cadiznons to access necessities sans visiting the city market.
Significantly, however, Escalante said their investments in concreting all farm-to-market roads in Cadiz made their anti-gutom quest more achievable.
It paved a way for all Cadiznons to access easy transport of goods from the mountains to lowlands as well as other agricultural projects and programs of the city aimed at alleviating hunger and poverty in Cadiz, he added.
Admitting that casting a goal of zero hunger in Cadiz is very challenging, Escalante said such a gigantic mission turned achievable with the collaborative efforts and steadfast dedication plus innovative strategies through synergy.*
