PEOPLE eat ‘pinakbet’ during the Talong Festival in Villasis, Pangasinan on Friday. (Liezle Basa Inigo)
VILLASIS, Pangasinan – This municipality cooked ‘’pinakbet’’ or mixed vegetable stew during the Talong Festival on Friday, Jan. 16.
Twenty-one barangays participated in the cook-off using eggplant produced by Barangays Pias, San Blas, and Caramutan as main ingredient.
More than 1.1 tons of pinakbet were cooked in several cauldrons, with an estimated value of P118,000. Each cauldron weighed 56 kilos each.
Villasis has 80 to 100 hectares of farms planted to eggplant, cultivated by around 700 farmers.
Municipal Agriculturist Dionisio Cariño said that all the eggplants used in the festival were locally produced, a testament to the town’s agricultural capacity and food security.
Mayor Dita Abrenica reaffirmed the local government’s commitment to supporting farmers, stressing that agriculture remains a top priority of the administration.
She vowed continued assistance to farmers, including solar irrigation systems, fertilizer subsidies, tractor subsidies, and the distribution of tractors to barangays to boost productivity and ensure sustainable farming.