Gapan City Relief Goods: 50 Kilos Of Rice, Live Chicken, And More!

Here’s how Mayor Emeng Pascual protects and provides for his people in the midst of this Covid-19 crisis

- Jessica Pag-Iwayan

At this point, most of the country, including Nueva Ecija, is gearing up to ease from enhanced community quarantine into general community quarantine. Still, a lot of Filipinos are crying for help from the national government on account of rumbling stomachs, particularly those displaced by this pandemic.

In the city of Gapan in Nueva Ecija, Mayor Emeng Pascual believes that in order for the people to stay at home, the government should put food on their tables, and this is exactly what he is doing. On social media, this 46year-old mayor is creating a buzz as netizens are lauding him for his exemplary example of serving the people.

In a phone interview, Mayor Emeng shared with Manila Bulletin Lifestyle how the local government unit (LGU) of Gapan City is helping its people, and why he donated almost four years worth of his salary and some to the city’s public fund.

The majority’s status quo

According to Mayor Emeng, with a population of 140,000 people, it’s undeniable that most of his townmates live in poverty, “isang kahig, isang tuka,” as he put it. That’s why it would be really hard for their citizens to survive under the enhanced community quarantine guidelines.

“I am the president of the tricycle driver association here,” he says. “I personally go around and arrest those who are still offering services. But then they told me ‘Pangulong Emeng dalawang oras lang. Gusto naming mamasada para may pagkain lang kami. Isang kilong bigas lang uuwi na kami (President Emeng, just give us a couple of hours. We need to do this so we can buy food. Once we have enough to buy a kilo of rice, we will go home).’”