MANILA Mayor Honey Lacuna expressed the city’s profound gratitude to President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. for having chosen Baseco and Tondo as the recipients of thousands of kilos of mackerel which were from a seized smuggled shipment.
Lacuna thanked President Marcos “for always keeping Manileños in mind whenever they can benefit from any form of national government assistance.”
It was learned that President Marcos, Jr. and Lacuna distributed boxes each of which contained two kilos of frozen mackerel or ‘tulingan’. Also present was Vice Mayor Yul Servo and Manila 5th district Congressman Irwin Tieng.
Lacuna cited the efficient system established by the office of the Manila deaprtment of social welfare under Re Fugoso, which she said makes it easy to identify beneficiaries and gather them for distribution events at any time.
The said system is also one of the reasons why it is easy for Manila to work with Malacañang and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Lacuna said.
“Hindi po matatawaran ang malasakit na ipinapakita ni Pangulong Bongbong Marcos sa ating mga Manileño. Ang bawat kahon ng isdang ito ay hindi lang pagkain, kundi simbolo ng pagkalinga ng ating pamahalaan sa mga Manileño. Hindi matitinag ang Maynila sa pagsusulong ng bayanihan at pagkakaisa para sa kapakanan ng bawat pamilyang nangangailangan,” Lacuna said, as she also thanked DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla and Agriculture Francis Tiu Laurel, who assured the beneficiaries that the said mackerel are safe for human consumption.
The said frozen mackerel worth about P178.5 million and imported from China were confiscated the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) in Tondo, City of Manila on December 14, 2024.
The seized shipment of 21 container vans loaded with the said frozen fish arrived at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) in October and remained unclaimed by the consignee. It has been reported that the shipment lacked the necessary Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance.
Laurel then directed the performance of laboratory tests to assess the frozen mackerel’s safety for human consumption, as they will be distributed to communities affected by the recent typhoons.
Early this month, President Marcos, Jr. and Lacuna also jointly distributed Christmas gifts to the wards of the Manila city government-run Boys’ Town Complex in Marikina.
There, Fugoso said some 4,000 packages were given to the wards and even to students and employees at the Valeriano E. Fugoso Memorial School which is located within the Boys’ Town complex.
A day before that, President Marcos, Jr. and Lacuna also extended help to the more than 2,000 families who have been rendered homeless during a fire that hit the populous residential area of Isla Puting Bato in Tondo.
Lacuna said the continued support being given by the President to the city of Manila is a such a big help, specially since her administration is operating under a P17.8 billion debt left behind by her predecessor, ex-Mayor Isko Moreno.
