BATAAN, Philippines — Amid government-mandated quarantine resulting in a logistics problem haunting farmers and small businesses, Udenna Foundation, with the help of WorkLink Services Inc. of Chelsea Logistics, and Phoenix Petroleum, transported 50 gallons of honey processed by the Aetas of Bataan to buyers in Manila. This is in cooperation with social enterprise AGREA, headed by its founding farmer Cherrie Atilano.
“The wild honey, sustainably harvested by the Magbokun Ayta Indigenous Peoples of Morong, Bataan, is done only during the dry season when the flowers are in full bloom and honey production is at its height to ensure purity and quality,” said Atilano.
The shipment was part of the Sagip Saka program spearheaded by the Udenna Foundation under its CommUnity Care initiative. It aims to aid upland and lowland farmers of Luzon transport their produce to Metro Manila during the height of the enhanced community quarantine. Since then, the initiative continues its partnership with AGREA, as well as the Department of Agriculture.
“We have been very much encouraged by the results of our efforts the past three months so when we again saw the opportunity to help, this time our Aeta brothers and sisters, there were no second thoughts, we knew we had to help out,” said Dexter Silva, president of WorkLink Services, Inc.
“Udenna Foundation alerted us that our Aeta brethren needed help in transporting honey to Manila, we immediately saw this as an opportunity to live up to the core of what we in the Udenna group have stood for the past months of the ECQ—that is to serve as a critical bridge between the farmers needing to deliver their highly perishable goods and the people in NCR,” said Henry Fadullon, president and chief executive officer at Phoenix.
Udenna Foundation is constantly coordinating with the farmers and organizations in Northern and Southern Luzon to provide logistics services ensuring free flow of fresh produce during the COVID-19 pandemic, under the UCARE, or CommUnity Care, program of the foundation.
UCARE aims to find synergies across the different companies under Udenna to feed, protect, and transport the community. This call to action is hinged on Udenna Corporation Chairman Dennis Uy’s belief that all efforts, no matter how small, done together can lead to better lives for the Filipino.