Lugaw is essential commodity – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — Rice porridge or lugaw, or any food item for that matter, is considered “an essential good,” Malacanang said yesterday, following a video that went viral on social media.

The video shows a lugaw vendor being prevented by barangay officials from passing through a checkpoint amid the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. reminded police and local officials not to hamper the delivery of food and other essential commodities during the lockdown.

“Lugaw is (an) essential good,” Roque said in a statement.

He stressed that the delivery of food items must remain unhampered around the clock.

“Huwag natin harangin sa checkpoints (Let’s not stop them at checkpoints),” he said.

Netizens were angered over the video, which showed a Grab Food rider being accosted by barangay officials who claimed he was violating the 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.

The rider pleaded his case and said Grab followed the guidelines set by the government on the ECQ, which allowed food deliveries.

The local officials, however, refused to let him through, saying the porridge, which he was supposed to deliver, was “not essential.”

In response, Grab posted on its official Facebook page a photo showing lugaw with the words: “If food is essential, and lugaw is food, therefore LUGAWISESSENTIAL.”

Grab urged the public to thank riders for ferrying essential needs and offered a promo code for free delivery.