The viral lugaw (rice porridge) video sent the internet in a frenzy as a woman considered the food as non-essential goods.
In the video that circulated online, a barangay officer apprehended a Grab driver for delivering food past curfew. In the rider’s defense, he is only delivering lugaw for a customer.
However, the woman, who was from San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, insisted that couriers are not allowed past curfew. Moreover, she insisted that the food is not an essential good. The barangay officer even read the guidelines for the enhanced community quarantine, with a heavy emphasis on the regulations imposed during the lockdown.
Unfortunately, the woman misunderstood the guideline as delivery companies such as Grab are allowed to operate during wee hours. Moreover, the food which she considered as non-essential is in fact an essential food.
With the debate whether lugaw is part of essential goods, actor John Arcilla took to Facebook his opinion regarding the matter.
The actor started his message by pointing out how the incident reflected the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ (IATF) fault. According to Arcilla, the misunderstanding of the barangay official clearly shows how the agency oriented local officials for the new ECQ guidelines.
“Madali sana palampasin. Pero reflection kasi ito kung paano ino-orient ang mga ‘officers-in-charge.’ At kung paano tayo mag-handle ng crisis,” wrote Arcilla.
Ang hirap na nga ng sitwasyon ng mga tao pinapahirapan pa ng ale. Paisa lang
Posted by Romeo John Arcilla on Wednesday, March 31, 2021
The actor then continued his rant regarding the consequence of the incident. Arcilla discussed the possibility that the customer who ordered the food may have been craving lugaw, or maybe it is the only food that they can consume. But with the woman’s meddling, a person may have nothing to eat, and a courier not being paid for the job.
“So ang Grab driver ang magbabayad ng hindi na-deliver na food. Then kawawang umorder kung lugaw lang ang (essential) food na gusto o pwede niya kainin dahil may sakit pala-dahil lang sa may katangahan at pagmamagaling,” he continued.
Arcilla also urged the barangay captain responsible for the woman’s mischief. The actor demanded that the woman be reprimanded or worse, be terminated for her clear ignorance of the law.
“Binasa na nga hindi pa naintindihan. Pakitanggal nga ho itong ale sa kanyang assignment o sabunin. Nakaka-agrabyado na nga ng tao, pinapalala pa ang sitwasyon,” Arcilla wrote.
As a result of this incident ballooning into a political matter, the viral woman aired her side as well. Apparently, her misdemeanor caused her to lose her job. She also called out the agencies tasked to implement the guidelines for clearer guidelines to avoid confusion in the future.
“Sa iyo, Marvin, kung na-offend ka doon sa aking nabanggit, ako ay humihingi ng pahumanhin. Kasama na rin doon ang may ari ng establishment at doon sa mga Grab drivers,” Pez Raymundo said in a video uploaded by the Barangay Muzon page on Facebook. “Sa mga netizens, alam kong naapektuhan kayo doon sa aking nabanggit. Hindi ko gusto na ma-offend kayo, yun ay hindi intentional. Dahil late na ng madaling araw ‘yun, napagod din siguro ako, nagkamali ako ng pagpili ng salita na hindi akma doon sa aking pinapaliwanag kay Marvin.”
Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III sided with the woman. Densing took a jab at Vice President Leni Robredo as he called her “lugaw.” According to the DILG Usec, Robredo was never essential to the government.
“Tama ‘yung sinabi nya. Sabi nya kasi, non-essential si lugaw. Hindi talaga essential si lugaw. Pero kung sinabi nya essential ang lugaw, ‘yun tama ‘yun. Ang lugaw. Pero si lugaw ang binanggit niya. Non-essential talaga ‘yun sa paningin namin,” said Densing.
