ZAMBOANGA CITY is putting up more isolation facilities and targeting at least 2,000 beds as part of the local government’s Covid-19 response, supplementing the mass vaccination program aimed at fighting the spread of the deadly respiratory virus.
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| DPWH photos show Public Works Undersecretary Emil Sadain, who heads the agency’s Task Force for Augmentation of Health Facilities, with Mayor Beng Climaco and other officials looking at a map. The DPWH is ramping up on-going construction of additional Covid-19 isolation facilities in Zamboanga City. |
“We are boosting our isolation facilities and efficiency of ambulances,” said Mayor Beng Climaco, head of the local Covid-19 task force.
The mayor said she tasked Elmeir Apolinario, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and also the Chief Implementer of the policies of the local Covid-19 task force, to build the facilities.
Climaco said she expects the project to be completed soon.
The Department of Public Works and Highway (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.
DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said the on-going conversion of the old Zamboanga Convention Center in Pasonanca, Zamboanga City will provide additional isolation or quarantine facility for treatment of asymptomatic and moderate Covid-19 patients.
DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain who heads the agency’s Task Force for Augmentation of Health Facilities, said the “repurposing” works for the Pasonanca Quarantine Facility is almost completed and meets public health’s standards for isolation and quarantine.
He said the 182-bed facility in Barangay Pasonanca can provide space for hospitals to discharge non-emergency Covid-19 cases and effectively allocate hospital beds for more severe and critical patients.
Sadain said the quarantine facility was also inspected by Department of Health (DOH) Assistant Secretary Romeo Ong, Mayor Beng Climaco, and DPWH Region 9 Director Cayamombao Dia.
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.
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.
Hate, Prejudice
Climaco thanked President Rodrigo Duterte, Villar, Duque and Ong for all the Covid-19 projects.
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 tranquility.
Law
But Climaco is undeterred by black propaganda and said the law shall take its course.
Police have previously arrested dozens of people and filed charges against them for spreading fake news and unverified information on social media amid the pandemic. Those who spread fake news and false information can be charged with violations of the “Unlawful Use of Means of Publication and Unlawful Utterances under Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code as amended, concerning Sec 4c4 (online libel) and Section 6 of Republic Act 10175 or the Anti-Cybercrime Law.”
Violators face imprisonment of one to six months and a fine ranging from P40,000 to P200,000. They could also be punished under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and could be held for violating Presidential Decree Number 90 which makes rumor-mongering and spreading false information as unlawful because it may cause or tend to cause panic, divisive effects among the people, and undermine the stability of the government. (Zamboanga Post)
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