Molecular laboratory to open soon

ZAMBOANGA CITY is set to inaugurate and open to the public its first-ever molecular laboratory operated by the local government after the Department of Health finally released its license to operate.

 

The P14-million medical center in Barangay San Roque is established under the Climaco administration – the first and only molecular diagnostics laboratory in the Zamboanga Peninsula region operated by a local government. 

Dr. Dulce Miravite, head of the City Health Office, confirmed the release of the DOH license to operate the laboratory, one of the flagship projects of Mayor Beng Climaco. 

“We have already received our license to operate the molecular laboratory,” Miravite said, adding they are now finalizing the guidelines for the operation of the ground breaking facility. “There are logistics preparations that we are doing for the opening anytime in the coming weeks,” she said. 

Zamboanga City has five other molecular laboratories and are operated by the Department of Agriculture, Zamboanga City Medical Center, Philippine Red Cross, West Metro Medical Center and Ciudad Medical Zamboanga. 

Molecular diagnostics are used to identify infectious diseases such as chlamydia, influenza virus and tuberculosis; or specific strains such as H1N1 virus or SARS-CoV-2. It combines laboratory testing with the precision of molecular biology and has revolutionized the way clinical and public health laboratories investigate the human, viral, and microbial genomes, their genes, and the products they encode. 

It is also called molecular pathology and involves taking DNA or RNA, the unique genetic code found in our cells, and analyzing the sequences for red flags that can pinpoint the potential emergence of a specific disease. The field has expanded rapidly in recent years. 

City Administrator Mike Saavedra said the Climaco administration has been working double time for the operation of the molecular laboratory. He said the facility is only one of the many legacies of Climaco, who is now on her third and last term, and is running for congresswoman in District 1. 

“The LGU-run molecular lab aims to provide free and expanded Covid-19 testing to residents, but nonetheless, those with symptoms and (people who had) close contacts (with Covid-19) are already given free testing by the LGU since the start of the pandemic (in 2020),” Saavedra said. 

Opposition 

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Climaco asked the support of the City Council to provide a wider coverage of RT-PCR testing in Zamboanga which cost between P2,000 to P5,000. Her proposal for free RT-PCR testing is subject to the availability of test kits and once the local molecular laboratory becomes operational.  

The mayor even ordered the City Health Office and the City Budget Office to come up with the policy in conformity with the guidelines set by the Department of Health and the Philippine Red Cross.  

But Councilor Pinpin Pareja said councilors allied with ex-lawmaker Celso Lobregat and Rep. Mannix Dalipe slashed the proposed budget of the City Health Office from P180 million to only P80 million and this will greatly impact various health programs of the local government, especially this time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pareja made this revelation during an interview with TV 11 and said the health budget proposed by the local government passed a rigid review, but the opposition councilors nonetheless tinkered with the Executive Budget.

Climaco earlier asked the councilors, especially those with the group of Lobregat and Dalipe, to support and approve the budget, instead of “politicizing” the funding intended for the welfare, security and health of the Zamboangueños.

Opposition councilors also reduced the budgets of the different local government departments, including the Office of the City Mayor, only to introduce their own version of the Executive Budget.

Politics

Lobregat and Dalipe allies in the City Council had previously opposed the annual budget and removed a huge chunk of funding intended for various pro-poor programs of the Climaco administration. They even trashed Climaco’s pro-poor Vida Programs which benefited tens of thousands of residents, especially the most vulnerable in the community.

Climaco blamed the Lobregat and Dalipe councilors for “killing” all the Vida Programs after they removed vital funding in the Executive Budget.  One such project under the program was the Largo Vida, an initiative that Climaco started in 2018 and which she originally intended to expand to over 60,000 beneficiaries.

The mayor identified the opposition councilors as John Dalipe, BG Guingona, Mike Alavar, Litlit Macrohon, Khymer Olaso, Lilibeth Nuño, Cary John Pioc, VP Elago, Jerry Perez and Monsi dela Cruz, who is now deceased. Dela Cruz and the younger Dalipe ran under Climaco’s political party, but eventually broke off ties with the mayor after winning the 2019 polls. 

Now, allies of Lobregat and Dalipe are running in the May election against each other for seats in the City Council. (Zamboanga Post)