Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto is the latest public figure to be featured in the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) FutureRice Farm’s paddy art.
FutureRice Farm, in a Facebook post on April 5, said it created the Vico Sotto-inspired paddy art to salute young leaders who are “rising up to build a bright and prosperous future for our nation in the best way they can.”
Sotto was also selected as the muse for the latest paddy art due to “popular demand.”
“This year’s rice paddy art features one of the 12 global anti-corruption champions: Mayor Victor Ma. Regis Vico Sotto. As a public servant, he is known for his strategies on government transparency and on battling COVID-19,” FuruteRice Farm wrote.
FutureRice Farm also lauded Sotto for his efforts in promoting agriculture. As Pasig City mayor “he augmented the city's vegetable supplies by buying from Benguet farmers” in April, 2020.
In January, 2021, Sotto also took part in an architecture design competition organized by the Department of Agriculture - Philippines and the youth group RE-TERRA to promote urban agriculture.
“The competition entices millennials to transform idle lands in Pasig City into productive urban farming spaces,” FutureRice Farm said.
Other public figures who have been featured in FutureRice Farm’s paddy art were President Duterte, Vice President Leni Robredo, Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, and boxing champion and Senator Manny Pacquaio.
FutureRice Farm is a program “formed to prepare Filipino farmers for future farming scenarios through Clean GPS technologies, ICTs, and agritourism.”