BARANGAY OFFICIALS in Zamboanga City have to level up their efforts in combating the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus, especially in the implementation of the public health protocols among others.
Mayor Beng Climaco has repeatedly told barangay officials to do their job and not to depend or rely solely on the local government in fighting the pandemic.
Even the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Infectious Diseases (RIATF-MEID) has observed that most of the barangay are “heavily” dependent on the local government in their Covid-19 responses.
The RAITF-MEID has deployed special Covid teams in Zamboanga City and other parts of the Zamboanga Peninsula region last month to assess and monitor how well the responses of the barangay units in preventing the spread of the disease in their locality.
It also urged barangay officials in Zamboanga to use their “disaster quick response” funds in the battle against Covid-19. Climaco said she was also told of the RIATF-MEID recommendation and ordered barangay officials to comply with it.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has also ordered an evaluation of every barangay’s performance in curbing the spread of the Covid-19, according to Climaco.
“There are gaps (in the Covid response) in the barangays, thus the Covid special team has requested DILG to evaluate the compliance of the barangays,” the mayor said.
She also appealed to residents to strictly follow the public health protocols, saying fighting Covid-19 is the responsibility of everybody. “Zamboanga City is under MECQ due to the record number of Covid cases. Ta pidi gayod kita cun el diatun 98 barangay, if you have contributed to our peace-keeping efforts resulting in zero bombing, zero kidnapping and zero piracy, then this time we really have to aggressively utilize whatever resources of the government at your disposal,” Climaco said.
She said all barangay units were provided
with funds for managing disasters, including the Covid-19 pandemic so that
officials can - at their level – address the situation. There was no immediate
statement from the Liga ng mga Barangay.
The
RIATF-MEID special Covid teams were led by Manuel Luis Ochotorena, the regional
director of the Office of the Civil Defence. Ochotorena also met with Climaco,
head of the local IATF-MEID and other task force members, and discussed the
prevailing health situation here.
Zamboanga
now has under 2,000 active Covid cases which forced the RIATF-MEID to recommend
to the national government’s IATF-MEID to impose stricter quarantine measures.
The city has been placed under MECQ since last month and shall stay until the
end of November.
Ochotorena
said they went around different barangays to see and assess the situation,
especially those with a high number of Covid cases. “Binibisita namin yun mga
ibat-ibang barangays to check and see how they manage Covid cases. We need to
assess the situation to come up with various measures and recommendations sa
local government, sa local IATF so we can mitigate the spread of the virus,” he
told the Zamboanga Post.
He
echoed Climaco’s appeal and said residents must strictly follow the public
health protocols and community quarantine guidelines set by the local
government. “People should strictly follow all these health protocols and the
quarantine guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus in the community. This
is very important to ensure the safety of every one because Covid-19 is a
serious disease,” he said.
Ochotorena
also lauded the health protocols imposed by Climaco at the Fort Pilar shrine
during the October celebration of the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival. “Mabuti nga
at mahigpit yun implementation ng health protocols natin sa Fort Pilar. It was
really a potential (Covid) super spreader event and delikado talaga to allow
more people sa Fort Pilar,” he said.
He also
commended Climaco and the local IATF-MEID for their efforts in battling
Covid-19. (Zamboanga Post)
