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Sen. Cynthia Villar has added her voice to the growing support for the proposal to place parts of Metro Manila under general community quarantine after May 15. Villar said the Metro Manila Council and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases should consider the lifting of enhanced community quarantine especially in localities identified as low and moderate risk in terms of number of COVID-19 cases. “I agree that we should start re-opening the economy and begin the implementation of new normal measures in Metro Manila areas that have been successful in keeping their COVID-19 cases under control,” Villar said. The senator also added that the prolonged ECQ is already taking its toll on the economy and employment situation in the country and causing distress among workers and their families. “We all know that the government cannot provide assistance to everybody affected by this public health emergency. We should now start re-opening the economy with h...

          As a proponent of vegetable gardening or backyard farming, Senator Cynthia Villar is pleased that Filipinos now have a better appreciation and increased interest in growing their own food during the ongoing community quarantine.           “I am glad that more people are now seeing the benefits of planting vegetables in their own backyard. And I hope the growing interest will continue even after the quarantine is lifted,” said Villar.           Senator Villar, the current chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, has long been advocating all forms of farming to ensure food self-sufficiency and security. She encourages people from all walks of life—the youth, OFWs, barangay residents and even drug surrenderees, to plant vegetables.           She has in fact several programs and projects that support her advocacy. She initiated the putting up of vegetable gardens in her h...

Aside from vegetable seeds, Sen. Cynthia Villar also distributed compost to help home gardeners grow healthy plants. Buoyed by the popularity of planting projects while on quarantine, Villar, chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, initiated the distribution of compost, an organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow. “While we have already convinced people to start planting, we might as well teach them how to plant the organic way,” Villar said. Villar noted that the use of compost reduces the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides as it enriches and conditions the soil. In Las Pinas and the Villar SIPAG farm schools, Villar’s composting projects continue to operate. It involved the collection of kitchen and garden waste. In Las Pinas, about 70 tons of compost are produced and given out to farmers in nearby localities. In addition to providing help to frontliners by donating food and protective equipments, Villar has included in her ...