Residents of Gapan, Nueva Ecija, the city after Arayat, Pampanga, have quarantine themselves faithfully toeing the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic rages on.
And the 34,000 families in Gapan have all the reasons not to go out. In fact, they do not need to go out. Mayor Emeng Pascual had shown all local government units (LGUs) what to do in these trying times – provide for the daily sustenance of the people. That is what Mayor Emeng did.
For a start, Mayor Emeng delivered one sack of rice, one live chicken and vegetables for each family. If the ECQ will go on for another two or three months, Mayor Emeng said he will provide another sack of rice each month. The live chicken, a Bantrex, weighs between 1.5 and 2 kilos. Add 3,000 pieces of eggs daily, the residents of Gapan are assured of their nourishment.
When asked how he did it, Mayor Emeng said he donated his salaries amounting to P4.5 million from the start of his term. Mayor Emeng added another P1.5 million from his own funds while his siblings gave another P10 million raising P16 million for the rice purchase. “Ibigay mo ang pangangailangan nila. Nararamdaman ko hindi ako nagiisa. Ang mga negosyante po ay tumutulong,” said Mayor Emeng. “Hindo po puedeng hindi lalabas ang tao kapag nagugutom.”
Mayor Emeng now joined the ranks of Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr., all of whom had shown their resolve and quality of being a true leaders.
Gapan is a 4thclass municipality with a population of 110,000.