TUGUEGARAO CITY, Aug. 20 (PNA) — The Municipality of Lal-lo, Cagayan, with the leadership of Mayor Florante C. Pascual, continuously maintains and promotes its health and nutrition programs and projects even after winning the National Honor Award.
For this year, the main activities of the local government unit, in partnership with the Rural Improvement Club (RIC), headed by Sanggang Panlalawigan (SP) Board Member Maria Olivia B. Pascual, focus on School Canteen Visit and the Citronella Planting and Propagation.
Due to the alarming news on food poisoning in some parts of the country, Lal-lo deemed it necessary to repel the happening of the same in the town. As such, the RIC visited the school canteens around the town to ensure that every food product in the canteens is safe and nutritious for the children.
The RIC checked the safekeeping and sanitary conditions of the canteens. They likewise checked the products and where they are coming from.
“If we want to invest the good future in the hands of our children, then we should start by feeding them only the right ones. More than the quality education our schools can provide, safe and nutritious food is even more important,” said Olive Pascual.
Learning of the many benefits and uses of the Citronella Plant, the RIC are actively propagating citronella in the town.
One of the benefits from citronella is that it has insect repellant properties that drive mosquitoes and small insects away. As such, the RIC supplies the LGU to support its program “Fight Dengue with Citronella” (FCP).
With the participation of school institutions and barangay government units, citronella is now widely distributed in many corners of Lal-lo.
Citronella is very easy to grow. And aside from its being an insect repellant, there are likewise many end- products that can be made out of it, e.g. soap, candles, and citronella oils. Asian Cuisine also uses the plant as a medical herb and culinary herb, commonly used in teas, soups, and curries. Further, its cultivation enables growing some vegetables without applying commercial pesticides.
“We hope that with this endeavor, we could help make our community a green and healthy one for our constituents. Gratefully, we have the whole community to support. We are having more plans of what we can do with citronella, and with collaboration with our partners, we hope we can do more in the near future,” Pascual added. (PNA)