Isko buys organic Mindanao rice for senior citizens
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno’s order of 500 metric tons of organic rice worth P40 million was the biggest sale so far of MinDA Tienda since its launch last year in Baguio
Mindanao farmers scored a big sale after Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso ordered 500 metric tons of black, red and brown organic rice for the city’s estimated 150,000 senior citizens.
The order was placed a month before MinDA Tienda, which brings Mindanao farmers produce nationwide, goes to Manila.
Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said the sale was worth P40 million, a price that Domagoso said he is willing to pay because of the health benefits senior citizens will gain.
MinDA Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said he gifted Domagoso with a pack of organic rice last Christmas and the Manila mayor liked it.
MinDA Tienda 2020 will be on 23 to 25 October at the Mehan Garden, a stone’s throw away from the city hall. It will sell handwoven products, rice, fruits, vegetables and seafood from Mindanao, including the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
MinDA, with the support from the United States Agency for International
Development, helped organize the Mindanao Organic Rice Council.
Domagoso’s advance order of organic rice was the single biggest sale recorded so far under the MinDA Tienda program, after its launch last year in Baguio City with the MinDA Fruit Festival.
“I also suggested to Mayor Isko that another great gift item for his senior citizens would be organic vegetables and chicken, which we will soon produce in the Balik Probinsya resettlement areas established in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte and Kalawit, Zamboanga del Norte,” Piñol said.
Piñol met Wednesday with Domagoso and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuña-Pangan.
Domagoso also suggested the holding of cultural presentations and performances by Mindanao artists to give Manileños a glimpse of the culture of the South.