1-DAY TAGUIG TIENDA POSTS
A WHOOPING P3.1-M SALES
By Manny Piñol
The Taguig Tienda Malasakit Store posted a one-day sales of P3.1-M in what was considered as the most successful staging of a program which links farmers directly with Metro Manila consumers.
It also marked the start of a series of engagements between the Department of Agriculture and local governments unit in Metro Manila to provide agriculture and fisheries products at farm gate prices to consumers.
Taguig residents, including those living in nearby communities, trooped to the Taguig Lakeshore Hall beside the Laguna Lake where over 30 farmers and fishermen’s groups displayed food items coming from the production areas as far as Zamboanga to the South and Cordillera to the North.
Rice farmers from Tarlac and the government-subsidized rice of the National Food Authority (NFA) were the stars of the event as people queued up to buy freshly milled local rice at P39 per kilo and good quality NFA rice at P27 per kilo.
Buyers of the NFA rice also had the option of attending a one-hour briefing on Urban Gardening offered by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI).
The hot items included frozen Tuna from General Santos City sold at P220 per kilo, Tilapia from Pampanga sold at P80 per kilo and sugar sold by the Sugar Regulatory Administration at P40 for brown and P48 for white.
Tomatoes from Kalayaan, Laguna were also sold in the Taguig TienDA for P10 to P20 per kilo while organic lettuce from Benguet was sold for P60 per pack.
The controversial “Siling Labuyo,” which critics of the administration claimed was sold at the public market for as high as P1,000 per kilo was sold at P150 for the “Sinigang” variety and P300 for the Bicol variety.
Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Cong. Lino
Cayetano and Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano joined the opening ceremonies of the activity.
By noon time, the goods were almost gone except for the free-range native chicken which came from my farm in Kidapawan City which arrived late because of the delayed arrival of the plane from Davao City and fruits from Sulu, Davao and Cotabato.
All unsold products will be displayed today in the DA Central Office in Quezon City where people will be flocking to celebrate World Food Week.
Taguig Mayor Cayetano said the city would like to hold the TienDA every week because of the dramatic response of the people.
The Taguig Mayor was assured that the staging of the TienDA Malasakit store will also be replicated in other cities in Metro Manila and later all over the country.
(Photos of the TienDA Malasakit Store opening in Taguig yesterday taken by Darius Mangampo, DA-AFID and the DA-AFID team.)
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