Cotabato town placed under state of calamity due to COVID-19 threat

KIDAPAWAN City —The Sangguniang Bayan in the town of M'lang, Cotabato in a special session unanimously approved a resolution placing the entire town under a state of calamity following the continuous increase of cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) all over the country.

M'lang Mayor Russel Abonado said the declaration will pave way for the utilization of 30% of its Quick Response Funds (QRF) for the purchase of equipment such as face masks, disinfectants, alcohol and possible additional allowances for health personnel in the frontlines of containing the possible spread of the virus all over the 37 villages of the town.

Abonado said they will utilize at least P1.1 million of their P12 million QRF for the current year.

The Municipal Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (MESU) during the special session reported that there are at least 60 individuals being considered as Persons Under Monitoring (PUMs), including seven who have already completed the required 14-day quarantine.

Dr. Glecerio Sotea, the town’s health officer said most of the PUMs came from Metro Manila who went home to M'lang following the announcement of the enhanced community quarantine over the entire Luzon, including Metro Manila.

Sotea said M'lang is still free from COVID-19, as none has been considered as Person Under Investigation or PUI.

“We conduct close monitoring on them. Every day our health personnel assigned to each one of them submit daily monitoring reports to the Rural Health Unit (RHU),” Sotea said.

Barangay health monitoring teams in all 37 villages of M'lang have also been activated to help in monitoring the entry and exit of their respective residents, especially if there are new faces within their territories.

Abonado said barangay cshairman of every villages will act as Incident Command Commander (ICC), who will receive daily reports from the health personnel and turn them over to the mayor.

“We enjoin the village officials to participate in times of this crisis. This is not only for the good of the town of M'lang, but also of your own constituents,” Abonado explained.

Four-day work week

The town is also implementing a four-day work week in all transaction at the municipal hall effective March 17 as part of preemptive measures to fight the threat of COVID-19. 

All transactions within the town hall premises starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, according to Abonado.

The policy will be effective until March 31, 2020, unless extended upon recommendation of the department managers.

The policy will not cover offices that are indispensable to the maintenance and protection of public health (Municipal Health Office), emergency services (traffic management unit (TMU), maintenance of environment (MENRO), market operations, and public terminal operations.

Classes in all levels both private and public were also called off from March 17-April 13.

School management may opt to assign a skeletal force during these dates to accommodate inquiries from parents and authorities. Moving ups and graduation ceremony could be conducted once the order is lifted, according to the town mayor.

Other towns that are adopting the four-day work week include Tulunan, Kidapawan City, Matalam and Makilala. 

Holy Week climb cancelled

The Municipal Tourism Council in M'lang also called off the annual climb to the Shrine of the Holy Cross in Barangay Nueva Bida which was scheduled during Holy Week as preemptive measures against the effect of COVID-19.

Bernardo Tayong, municipal tourism officer, said the decision was agreed during the meeting with stakeholders including the management of the shrine.

Every year, over 10,000 pilgrims gather in the hill to pray and participate in the stations of the cross.

Majority of the visitors come from various towns in North Cotabato and nearby provinces of Davao del Sur, Bukidnon, Maguindanao, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Davao City. —LDF, GMA News