HELP HAS ARRIVED. Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu and Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino along with other national government officials arrive in Bacolod City Wednesday, August 26. Prior to Bacolod, they also went to Iloilo City where they met with Regional Inter-agency Task Force of Region 6 and local chief executives. (Opav Photo) BACOLOD City Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chairman of Bacolod City Inter-Agency Task Force against coronavirus disease (Covid-19), has expressed gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte for answering the urgent appeal of Mayor Evelio Leonardia to send an augmentation team of doctors, nurses, and medical technologists from Department of Health (DOH) to Bacolod.
Leonardia said Tuesday, August 25, that the augmentation team is needed as an emergency stop-gap measure before the city's health care system bogs down due to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. "It's a good news for all of us, we need the help of the National Government. Secretary Roy Cimatu will come here with other Cabinet officials to assess the Covid-19 situation here," Familiaran said. Leonardia made the emergency and urgent appeal to Duterte to send to Bacolod, through the DOH, an augmentation team of 150 nurses, 20 doctors, and 30 medical technologists. Senator Bong Go informed the mayor that three Cabinet officials are arriving to meet with Bacolod City officials Thursday, August 27, to assess the Covid-19 situation and to determine what immediate assistance the National Government can give to the city to help stem the spread of Covid-19. Go, in a text message, told Leonardia that the contingent will be led by Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino and Environment Secretary Cimatu, who was also sent by Duterte to Cebu on a special mission to help them at the height of the Covid crisis there. They will be joined by General Mel Feliciano, partner of Cimatu in the Cebu mission. The group first visited Iloilo City on Wednesday before proceeding to Bacolod where they will hold separate meetings with officials of the City and those of the province. Dino promised the mayor that the National Government "will go all the way" and give "full support" to help Bacolod City. General Robert Ancan, of the AFP Visayas Command Center in Cebu, in a follow-up call to Leonardia, also promised to field, as soon as possible, a medical team composed of Army doctors, nurses, and support health workers to augment the dwindling number of medical health workers here who are stricken with Covid-19 themselves or have resigned. Ancan further assured the mayor of further medical equipment support after an evaluation. In another phone call to Leonardia, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp), who is also the chief implementer of the National Task Force on Covid-19, promised to catch up with the Thursday meeting of city officials with Dino. However, if he cannot make it, Galvez assured the mayor that he will come to Bacolod next week. Galvez also promised Leonardia "to deploy Region 7 nurses and doctors there (Bacolod)" and that he will also arrange with DOH-Western Visayas to bring in more medical personnel to help fill the gap in the City's need for more doctors and nurses. He will also put in place, through DOH-Western Visayas, arrangements with certain Bacolod hotels to serve as "bend-down" facilities to take in recovering Covid patients who will be discharged earlier from hospitals, so that hospital beds can be freed to admit new critically-ill Covid patients. Galvez also assured Leonardia that he will "deploy 5 High-Flow Nasal Cannula" to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital and facilitate that the said hospital will have stocks of Remdesivir, an antiviral drug now used for seriously-ill Covid patients. Leonardia made an urgent appeal because he was alarmed by the fact that last August 23, Bacolod hospitals had refused admission to new Covid patients, saying they have already reached full capacity or that there are no more doctors and nurses to take care of new Covid patients. "Our need for medical staff to fill up the gap in our hospitals is great, Mr. President. Patients have already died in their homes for failing to avail of emergency hospital services," the mayor said. These patients could have been given help had there been enough medical personnel in these hospitals, he added in his appeal.
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Is the face shield requirement just for Metro Manila?
Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran is asking an important question on behalf of all Bacolod residents as they seek to clarify policy statements from the government. The politiko pointed out that the Department of Transportation announced a different protocol versus the Department of the Interior and Local Government. “Which is which? Mandatory use of face shield for all passengers in areas where public transportation is allowed (DOTr Memo) or in GCQ areas only (USec. Malaya’s statement)?,” the politiko said. Bacolod is under modified GCQ, so it’s a tricky situation among residents. BACOLOD City – This city’s Task Force Disiplina (TFD) temporarily stopped enforcing the “face mask and social distancing ordinance.” Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, TFD head, said they opted to halt operations pending the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test result for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) of one of their member who recently died. “We will resume operation if his test result would turn out negative,” Familiaran stressed, adding the other TFD members were advised to self-isolate. The 60-year-old task force member was a job order employee of the city government. He was found dead inside the bathroom of his house in Barangay Taculing on Aug. 16, according to TFD action officer Wilfredo Geolingo. The task force personnel’s body was immediately swabbed for COVID-19, he added. TFD was made after Mayor Evelio Leonardia issued his Executive Order (EO) No. 47 creating the Quarantine and Health Protocol Compliance Council. The TFD was composed of personnel from the Bacolod City Police Office, City Mayor’s Office, City Administrator’s Office, and Public Order and Safety Office. The task force was tasked to ensure the compliance of residents and establishments with all existing laws, issuances and ordinances related to the established health protocols against COVID-19. There were around 60 members divided into two teams, said Geolingo./PN TASK Force Disiplina temporarily halted its operations in Bacolod City while its members were advised to undergo self-quarantine after one of its members was found dead inside his house in Barangay Taculing, Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chairman of the Task Force Disiplina, said Wednesday, August 19, 2020. Familiaran said the male victim, who was living alone, was found dead inside his house on Sunday. His body was subjected to a postmortem swab. He already instructed Wilfredo Geolingo, co-chairman of the task force, to temporarily stop its operation and to undergo self-quarantine while waiting for the swab result of the victim. He added that before the incident, the victim had a fever and was suspected to have been infected by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19). Task Force Disiplina was tasked to arrest those who are not wearing face masks and not following the physical distancing in various barangays. Since July, hundreds of violators were arrested in Bacolod City. Bacolod residents were fined P200 while non-residents P300. Meanwhile, Familiaran said Mayor Evelio Leonardia is now planning to implement additional measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the city. “During our consultative meeting on Monday, we discussed several concerns along with various sectors such as the church leaders, hospital directors, infectious disease specialist, the regional directors, national IATF, business group and Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson,” Familiaran said. He said they considered the request of the doctors and the observation of the business group in the city. Familiaran added the mayor will impose additional measures that will not affect the quarantine status of the city. He disclosed that the City Government cannot upgrade its quarantine status from modified general community quarantine to general community quarantine since the national IATF follows a set of parameters in determining the quarantine status of a local government unit. A TOTAL of 154 persons were arrested by Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) from August 3 to 5, 2020, for violating the health protocols set to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).
Police Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Pico, spokesperson of BCPO, said the violators were arrested by personnel of Police Stations 1 to 10, along with the operatives of Mobile Patrol Group (MPG) and Bacolod City Mobile Force Company (BCMFC), for not wearing face masks and not observing physical distancing. He said on August 5, a total of 49 persons were arrested in various barangays; 46 violators were arrested on August 4, and another 59 violators on August 3. He added the violators will be charged for violation of Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code for disobedience to persons on authority, in relation to Executive Order No. 35. The police will file the case in a regular filing. BCPO, along with Task Force Disiplina chaired by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, intensified its operation in various barangays to arrest those who are not observing physical distancing and not wearing face masks in public places. UPON the request of Mayor Evelio Leonardia, the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP), headed by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, passed an appropriation ordinance for P41.5 million for the grant of hazard pay and special risk allowance to employees of the Bacolod City Government who qualified for it.
Familiaran said the SP unanimously passed the appropriation ordinance during their regular session Wednesday, August 5, 2020. Leonardia said, “This is a form of saying thank you to our frontliners and employees who rendered work during the ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) from March 30 to May 15, 2020. They are our heroes during these trying times.” On August 3, Leonardia wrote the SP requesting that salary savings from vacant positions from January 1 to May 31, 2020, be reverted and reappropriated for an appropriation ordinance to cover the hazard pay and special risk allowances of those who qualified for it. Of the P41.5 million reappropriated, P37.6 million is for hazard pay and P3.9 million is for special risk allowance. City Budget Officer Ma. Imelda Williams said those entitled to receive these incentives are regular employees, job order workers and contractual employees of the City, who rendered frontline and other essential services during the ECQ in the city from March 30 until May 15 or for 47 days. Williams said that based on the availability of funds of the City Government, each of the qualified personnel will receive hazard pay of, at most, P350 per day for the number of days they rendered service during the 47 days of the ECQ. On the other hand, each of the qualified personnel will receive a one-time special risk allowance, which is equivalent to a maximum of 25 percent of their monthly basic pay. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released a budget circular providing a prorated computation of the special risk allowance. Personnel receiving “regular hazard pay” may avail of the Covid-19 hazard pay, whichever is higher, she said. (PR) For some local businessmen, the proposed new curfew hours from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. is too early and will further hurt night businesses thus, they are appealing for reconsideration to the City Government. (File photo) IT'S too early.
This was how some businessmen viewed the proposed new curfew hours, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., in Bacolod City in light of the prevailing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) threat. Frank Carbon, chief executive officer of Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI), said they are apprehensive that the 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew schedule might result in zero-night business activity. Carbon said this was the consensus of some members of the local business community especially retail establishments like malls, department stores and supermarkets in a consultation over the weekend. "What sustain most of these businesses now are its groceries and food sections," he said, adding that good business traffic among these establishments is between 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. when most employees have gone out from their workplaces. On Friday evening, Mayor Evelio Leonardia issued an Executive Order (EO) extending the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) in the city until August 15. The EO stated that "it advocates for consideration of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) that the daily curfew shall be set from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m." If this is the case, Carbon said, business establishments are seen to most likely "stop operation" by 6 p.m. so to give time for cleaning and closing the stores. The business community, according to Carbon, said if the mayor intends to limit the movement of the people, the curfew hours can be reverted back to its existing schedule of 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. instead of adjusting it to 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Carbon pointed out that in Metro Manila, for instance, which is under General Community Quarantine (GCQ), most businesses are allowed to operate until 10 p.m. "Longer curfew hours would further hurt night businesses like restaurants whose operations have already been affected due to some restrictions as part of health protocols," he added. Night businesses, or those operating from 5 p.m. onwards, comprise about 30 to 40 percent of the entire business landscape in the city. As this developed, the business sector is sending a letter today to the mayor as well as to Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran and the SP appealing them to reconsider the proposed new curfew hours. Carbon recalled that in a previous discussion with Councilor Archie Baribar, who authored the curfew ordinance, the latter said his committee will recommend a curfew starting 10 p.m. if under a GCQ and 11 p.m. for MGCQ. "We are okay with it as we are still slowly opening up," he said. It can be recalled that in a joint position paper earlier, several business organizations in Negros Occidental have expressed opposition to the request of a group of doctors to place the city back under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). Leaders of MBCCI, Bacolod Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Negros Occidental Filipino-Chinese Amity Club, Northern Negros Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Southern Negros Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry stressed the need to keep the balance especially in terms of implementing measures to stop the spread of the virus and its impact to local economy. For the city government's part, Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said, “The 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew is only a proposal as of the moment, and may I make it clear therefore, that today until the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) acts on this the curfew will stay at 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.” Leonardia said notwithstanding the existing ordinance on curfew and owing to the continuing concern to limit the movement of the citizens during the day in order to strengthen health protocols against coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for the safety and health protection of the general community, he is proposing to set the daily curfew from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. “If the Sangguniang will eventually act on it and hopefully by this coming Wednesday then that is we correspondingly makes some necessary changes or adjustments on our curfew,” he said. He added exemptions will be made for public emergencies, fire and ambulance services, those working night shifts in private establishments, media practitioners, and those city government and police officials and employees whose work may extend to within aforesaid curfew period by reason of the current state of public emergency. Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran for his part said the SP has yet to tackle the proposed new curfew hours on Wednesday. Familiaran, also the chair of the city's inter-agency task force against Covid-19, stressed that the City Council has yet to amend the existing curfew ordinance providing for a curfew period from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. There have been reports that some business establishments have closed early on Saturday evening due to "confusions" on the implementation of new curfew hours. |
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