MANILA - Sen. Cynthia Villar has distributed vegetable seeds to help residents grow their own food while Luzon remained under lockdown due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In a statement issued Sunday, Villar said she distributed packed seeds of tomato, eggplant, pumpkin, ampalaya, sweet pepper, hot pepper, corn, sitaw, and mungbean to 61 barangays in Las Piñas, Bulacan, and Cavite.

"It will be a big help for families to have direct access to nutritious foods that they don't have to buy," said Villar, who chairs the Senate committee on agriculture, food and agrarian reform.

The packets also come with instructions on how to plant and care for the vegetables.

Villar stressed that home gardening was needed in times of emergencies, when there are disruptions in the supply of fruits and vegetables.

The Luzon-wide lockdown, which was implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19, is set to end on April 30.

As of Saturday, the number of persons that tested positive for COVID-19 in the Philippines has reached 4,195.