Udenna Foundation, WorkLink, Phoenix Petroleum help Aeta honey producers during COVID-19 crisis

BATAAN, Philippines – Amidst the backdrop of a government-mandated community quarantine that has resulted in a problem of logistics that haunt farmers and small businesses, Udenna Foundation with the help of WorkLink Services, Inc. of Chelsea Logistics, and Phoenix Petroleum transported 50-gallons of honey processed by the Aetas of Bataan to buyers in Manila in cooperation with social enterprise AGREA, headed by its Founding Farmer Cherrie Atilano.

“The wild honey, sustainably harvested by the Magbokun Ayta Indigenous Peoples of Morong, Bataan, in their ancestral lands, is done only during the dry season when the flowers are in full bloom and honey production is at its height to ensure the purity and quality,” said Atilano.

The shipment was part of the Sagip Saka program spearheaded by the Udenna Foundation under their CommUnity Care initiative. The objective of this initiative was to aid upland and lowland farmers of Luzon, transport their fresh produce to Metro Manila at the height of the enhanced community quarantine. Since then, the initiative has continued in partnership with AGREA as well as the Department of Agriculture.

When asked about the most recent effort, WorkLink Services, Inc. President, Mr. Dexter Silva said, “We have been very much encouraged by the results of our efforts the past three months so when we again saw the opportunity to help, this time our Aeta brothers and sisters, there were no second thoughts, we knew we had to help out.”

Henry Fadullon, new Phoenix President and Chief Executive Officer added, “Udenna Foundation alerted us that our Aeta brethren needed help in transporting honey to Manila, we immediately saw this as an opportunity to live up to the core of what we in the Udenna group have stood for the past months of the ECQ, that is to serve as a critical bridge between the farmers needing to deliver their highly perishable goods and the people in NCR.”

Udenna Foundation is constantly working with and coordinating with the farmers and organizations in Northern and Southern Luzon to provide logistics services to ensure the free flow of fresh produce during the COVID-19 pandemic under the UCARE or CommUnity Care program of the Foundation.

UCARE or CommUnity Care is a program of Udenna Foundation that aims to find synergies across the different companies under UDENNA to feed, protect, and transport the community. This call to action is hinged on Udenna Corporation Chairman Dennis Uy’s belief that all efforts, no matter how small, done together can lead to better lives for the Filipino.

ADVT