By: Hannah Nicol The Valenzuela City local government launched on Friday, July 12, its five-day "Pasko sa Hulyo para kay Lolo at Lola 2024" program for the registered senior residents. The initiative will run from July 12 to July 20, from 9 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m. According to the city’s public information office, the program will distribute two bags of five-kilogram rice to 69,025 senior citizens in the city.
It added that the initiative also aims to support thousand of local farmers from Isabela province. Senior citizens who registered with the Office of Senior Citizens Affair (OSCA) on or before May 10 are eligible to receive the gift pack. City Mayor Weslie “Wes” Gatchalian said that the senior citizens will receive high quality rice from Isabela province.
“Alam niyo po, dito sa Valenzuela, mahal na mahal po natin ang ating mga senior citizen. Kaya ho hindi na po sapat na nagbibigay tayo ng bigas lamang. Kung hindi po, dapat ang bigas na binibigay natin ay masarap at high quality (You know, here in Valenzuela, we really love our senior citizens.
That's why it's not enough that we just give rice. The rice we provide should be delicious and of high quality),” he said. He added that the city government has a partnership with a farming cooperative in Isabela.
The collaboration ensured that the rice distributed to the senior citizens is sourced directly from local farmers in order to support their livelihood and to promote sustainable agriculture. “Kaya po, ngayong umaga.
