City officials urged the City Veterinary and Agriculture Office (CVAO) to work for the immediate conduct of an ornamental plants enthusiasts consumer fair amidst the plantito-plantita fever in the city because of the ongoing implementation of the various community quarantine to combat the spread of the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Under Resolution No. 635, series of 2020 that was signed by Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong, local legislators stated that the CVAO in close coordination with the Liga ng mga Barangay – Baguio city chapter shall be in charge of the formulation of the guidelines, criteria, mechanics and the program components of the ornamental plants enthusiasts consumer fair based on established basic parameters.
The council added that in order to recognize, appreciate and acknowledge the contributions and influences of the plantitos and plantitas and to encourage others to actively participate in such endeavor, there is a need for the issuance of the appropriate directive from the City Mayor’s Office for the CVAO to work out the conduct of the aforesaid fair that will be inclusive to allow the greater participation of the public to such noble activity.
The council admitted that the prevailing health crisis has brought drastic routine changes to the world’s population and among the same is social isolation, one of the recommended practice to curb the spread of the disease, which can lead to the eventual development of several problems such as depression, stress, apathy and loneliness.
According to the council, there are effective and efficient remedies to mitigate the serious negative effect of drastic routine changes and social isolation like practices associated with the cultivation of flowers and ornamental plants where such option has proven positive impact in the mental health of the population.
The council recommended that the activities which can be done indoors, outdoors or even virtual, can make them, as well as the people whom the joy they share with, feel better with the presence of the plants within their midst and caring for their growth.
The council noted that during the period of social isolation, flowers and plant enthusiasts or the so-called plantitos and plantitas emerged that caused the pries of ornamental plants to skyrocket at the height of the community quarantine to date.
The pant and flower enthusiasts reportedly engaged and occupied themselves in gardening, landscaping and decorating and have made the said activities viral or incredibly popular on social networks and even profited from it through the sale of their potted plants that allowed them to cope with the heavy impact of the pandemic to their jobs and sources of livelihood.
The council claimed that the production of ornamental plants reportedly attracted tens of thousands of people in the different parts of the country in search of learning and improvement as part of the positive benefits of the prevailing community quarantine in bringing out the best in them as part of their temporary sources of income while things are being brought to normalcy by concerned government agencies and the local government upon the direct supervision of the inter-agency task force for the management of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.
By Dexter A. See