By Mario Casayuran
To ensure the food supply during the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, the Senate minority bloc yesterday proposed that food manufacturers be allowed to mark their vehicles with their company/brand logos, as a further clarification to the guidelines on food supply that Malacañang announced late Tuesday night.
Senate of the Philippines (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon; Sen. Francis N. Pangilinan, president of the Liberal Party (LP); and senators Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros proposed the following vehicles be marked with company logos:
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Shuttle vehicles for transporting their workers to and from their manufacturing plants. Social distancing will be practiced in the vehicles.
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Vans and delivery trucks of their suppliers (e.g., of tin cans, packaging materials, ingredients, engineering parts for their machines).
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Their delivery trucks for continued service to sari-sari stores, groceries, supermarkets and distributors.
‘’The best way to counter panic-buying in these times is to show full shelves of food items. We cannot let food shortages happen because we must uphold the people’s right to food even or especially under states of calamity and because we have seen their horrible consequences in other countries,’’ the bloc members said.
‘’We should ensure the people’s right to food security and avert any possible food riots with careful planning and reasonable implementation."