Pasonanca isolation facility now open

THE DEPARTMENT of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has formally turned over to the local government the 188-room isolation facility at the Pasonanca Convention Center.

DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain with Councilor Pinpin Pareja during the turnover of the 188-room quarantine facility to the local government.

DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain led public works officials in the handover of the facility to Councilor Pinpin Pareja, who represented Mayor Beng Climaco on behalf of the local government.

Sadain said the project is intended to augment the two quarantine tents with 20 beds also in Pasonanca which was completed in March. Both facilities shall be managed and operated by the City Health Office and City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) under supervision by the DOH.

Also present during the turnover ceremony were Dr. Manolo Alpichi, of the Department of Health; City Health Officer Dr. Dulce Miravite, Elmeir Apolinario, of the CDRRMO; and other local officials. 

Pareja thanked DPWH Secretary Mark Villar and Sadain and DPWH Regional Director Cayamombao Dia, and Pasonanca barangay officials led by its chairman Efigenio Julian. “This is one of the manifestation of the whole of government approach, ang pagtutulungan ng national at local para labanan ang COVID-19 pandemic,” she said. 

Climaco previously said the local government is putting up more isolation facilities and targeting at least 2,000 beds as part of the Covid-19 response, supplementing the mass vaccination program aimed at fighting the spread of the deadly respiratory virus. “We are boosting our isolation facilities and efficiency of ambulances,” she said, adding, she ordered Apolinario to build the facilities.  

The mayor also thanked President Rodrigo Duterte, Villar, and DOH Secretary Francisco Duque and his Assistant Dr. Romeo Ong for all the Covid-19 projects. 

Mayor Beng Climaco and Councilor Pinpin Pareja inspect the 188-room quarantine facility at the Pasonanca Convention Center. (Bong Serondo)

But while Climaco and the DPWH and DOH continue efforts to address the pandemic and respond to the health crisis, social media trolls and black propagandists also heightened their attacks against the mayor ahead of next year’s polls.

Climaco’s foes peddled fake news and false information aimed at bringing down the mayor, who is on her third and final term. Political propagandists resorted to spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and even denounced the isolation facilities in Barangay Pasonanca, saying it would put residents at risk of being infected with Covid-19 because the “virus can jump out of the tent.” 

They also called on Pasonanca residents to oppose the project while others have “demonized” those living near the facility to protest it. The spread of black propaganda, fake news and false information have alarmed Pasonanca residents and has prejudiced public tranquillity. 

The DPWH said it is also ramping up the on-going construction of additional isolation facilities here with construction of an “off-site modular hospital and pop-up dormitory” for health workers.

The DPWH is also constructing a modular hospital with 22 beds for moderate, severe to critical Covid-9 patients at the Mindanao Central Sanitarium General Hospital (MCSGH) in Barangay Pasobolong and will be operated by the Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC) with equipment supplied by the DOH; and a dormitory with 16 rooms and double decker beds medical personnel.

Sadain said he and Abdel Kanti, of the CDRRMO; and DPWH Region 9 Construction Division Chief Engr. Atila Barre have - after their assessment - identified five buildings and a covered court at the Regional Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center also at the MCSGH compound as a potential 300-bed quarantine facility and dormitories with 30 beds for health workers.

He said the projects at the MCSGH were also discussed in a meeting and inspected by Dia and the Chief of Hospital, Dr. Hannah Turco, including ZCMC Chief Dr. Afdal Kunting. (Jasmine Mohammadsali, Zamboanga Post)

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