Manila Vice Mayor Chi Atienza on Thursday, Nov. 13, eyes the improvement of urban farming in the city as one of the practical and sustainable solutions to address food insecurity in the Capital City as part of the city government's prioritization of providing the minimum basic needs of its residents.

Atienza made the statement during the 23rd Ceremonial Rice Harvesting held at Rizal Park as part of the National Rice Awareness Month 2025 celebration.

“Sa totoo lang, ang pinaka-pressing concern ngayon ay pagdating sa pagkain. Kung hindi naman nakakakain nang maayos ang ating mga kababayan. Ika nga ng ating alkalde, nganga pa rin tayo (In fact, the most pressing concern right now is food supply and security. If our countrymen are not able to eat properly due to food scarcity, then we are still in trouble)," she said.

Atienza then praised the idea of urban farming, which has been guiding the youth for 23 years on all aspects of rice and manual rice harvesting. 

The program has also introduced nutritious rice varieties like black, red, and brown rice and even sampled the world-class rice.

"Nakakatuwa dahil pagpasok ko d’yan, akala ko dati 'pagka-magtatanim, kailangan sa malaking rice field. 'Yun pala pwede kahit sa ating bakuran (It's exciting because when I went into it, I initially thought that you would need a large rice field to be able to plant rice. It turns out that you can do that even in your own backyard)," the vice mayor noted.

She also described the rice harvesting event spearheaded by the Department of Agriculture-PhilRice Los Baños as a good initiative that can be brought down to the barangay level to make food supply sustainable in communities. 

Meanwhile, Atienza also called on the youth to use their learnings to make a difference in the society.

"Isang request ko po sa inyo na sana gawin niyong adbokasiya ito. Sana gamitin niyo at gawing inspirasyon ang mga natututunan niyo ngayon dahil ayon sa Sustainable Development Goal 2, kailangan zero hunger. Sa ngayon, marami tayong nakikitang gutom. Kaya kung gagawin ninyong adbokasiya ang matututunan niyo ngayon, mas marami kayong matutulungan (I have a request for you to turn this into an advocacy. I hope you will use and make everything that you are learning today into an inspiration because according to the Sustainable Development Goal 2, there should be zero hunger. Right now, we are seeing a lot of people hungry. So if you turn what you are learning today into an advocacy, then you will be able to help more people)," she stressed.