Labella: Robust effort vs COVID-19

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella has bannered the city’s efforts against COVID-19 in his State of the City Address (SOCA) delivered online Wednesday.

“When news of the novel coronavirus started coming out, we immediately mobilized our resources in preparation for an unknown disease reported to be highly contagious. As early as January, I ordered the activation of the Emergency Operations Center at the Mayor’s Office to closely monitor the virus,” Labella said.

Even with the 8,302 total number of cases in the city as of July 21, Labella highlighted the 58 percent recovery rate, which is way higher than the national recovery rate of 27 percent.

The city has recorded 415 deaths.

“We have put in place comprehensive and robust efforts for relief, recovery, and response to the pandemic. I would like to thank the members of the Sangguniang Panglungsod under the leadership of Vice Mayor Michael Rama for the support and approval of the budget for these initiatives,” Labella said.

He said the city purchased three PCR machines as early as March 2020 and turned these over to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center to process swab samples.

“We are the first local government to purchase this one. There are some LGUs who claim that they are the first one, but no, they just purchased it this month or a month ago,” Labella said.

Unlike other LGUs that have PCR machines, Cebu City does not have its own molecular lab.

Labella said Cebu City is the first to purchase rapid test kits.

“We are the first local government unit to do mass testing as early as March. Usa na sa hinungdan daghan kaayo atong resulta sa positive cases,” Labella said.

Cebu City also participated in the mass testing initiated by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas for its “Project Balik Buhay”. Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City also took part in the mass testing, which was aimed at looking at how far the disease has spread.

Recently, however, no less than the Department of Health (DOH) has discouraged the use of rapid tests, especially as a condition for workers to return to work, because evidence has shown it yields false positive or false negative results.

In his speech, Labella said the city government has put up cluster clinics at five strategic locations to cater to residents with symptoms who need to undergo swab testing for appropriate referral to isolation or quarantine facilities.

In terms of quarantine facilities, the city has converted 50 schools as barangay isolation centers (BICs).

“By July 20, we were able to set up a total of 50 schools as Barangay Isolation Centers. These BICs have a total bed capacity of 3,052. Of the number, 2,612 are available. We have 440 patients currently isolated in these facilities for an occupancy rate of 15 percent,” Labella said.

Earlier, however, IATF Task Force Cebu overseer Roy Cimatu suspected that the presence of the BICs is one of the reasons for the spread of the virus owing to their close proximity to residents in the barangays.

Aside from the BICs, Cebu City also built from the ground the controversial Cebu City Quarantine Center.

Labella takes pride in the facility for being state-of the-art in terms of equipment and features like negative pressure ventilation, hepa filters, and monitoring through CCTV. It is manned by specialists and provisioned with ventilators.

Labella who earlier disapproved of building a quarantine center at the South Road Properties (SRP) mentioned the successful collaboration between the city government and the private sector via the New Normal Oasis For Adaptation and a Home (NOAH) Complex, an isolation facility for asymptomatic patients.

Labella reported that the city has also intensified its contact tracing efforts – from five to 95 contact tracing teams – with uniformed personnel from the police and the Bureau of Fire, nurses from the City Health Department, and 26 personnel tasked to get swab samples.

The city purchased 20,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) for its frontliners and 500,000 surgical masks and two negative pressure ambulances for the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

While under the highest community quarantine classification, the city gave funds to barangays twice for relief operations and distributed rice assistance. It also provided packed meals to frontliners and patients isolated in barangays.

Frontliners were also provided with transportation and a temporary place to stay while in the city.

And because quarantine restrictions have limited the movement of people, the city opened up mobile markets in the barangays so that residents will have access to food and other necessities.

Moving forward

Aiming to resuscitate the city’s economy slowly, Labella said the city is now in the process of formulating strategic programs to turn the economy around and address critical concerns.

The city's thrusts are jobs and entrepreneurship; educational support; and health, nutrition and sanitation.

"Trabaho, trabaho, trabaho. We will be working on a stimulus package para sa mga gagmay’ng negosyante. They are the backbone of our economy," Labella said.

(Work, work, work. We will be working on a stimulus package for small businesses. They are the backbone of our economy.)

Labella said the city will establish entrepreneurial mentoring and upskilling for displaced workers and set up the creative city to attract investors and generate jobs.

In terms of education, the city will gather local and international experts to help develop programs to supplement the Department of Education's (DepEd) distance learning initiative.

For health, nutrition and sanitation, aside from the completion of Cebu City Medical Center, the city is set to put up a Level 3 Cebu City Quarantine Center, and a dialysis center with the help of SM Seaside.

"We will create programs to boost health and the immune system and address sanitation problems… As we move forward, we bank on important programs that tackle health programs in the new normal, boosting the economy, grassroots/barangay programs, digitalization of City Hall services," Labella said.

Progress report

Labella also presented the status of his administration's agenda.

On education, the city broke ground for four 16-room school buildings in Barangays Mambaling, Lorega, San Jose, and Sapangdaku.

Construction of more school buildings in Barangays Kinasang-an, Busay, and Buhisan should already be underway.

"We have set aside funds for many educational projects but given the current situation, we had to look into them again. I'll share a snippet on how are working with and through the Department of Education for this later," Labella said.

On flood control, Labella said the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) is coordinating closely with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the study and implementation of flood control projects, especially in addressing right of way issues.

The city has also implemented the one-day processing of business permits and passed the ordinance that extends the validity of business permits to two years.

On traffic, the mayor said the city is now upgrading the existing 30-year-old traffic system.

"We are finalizing the terms and reference and other documents to pave the way for the procurement process of our digital and intelligent traffic system project," Labella said.

To improve garbage collection further, the city government has purchased equipment for collection and disposal and will continue to buy more to meet the increasing demand.

Meanwhile, the city has awarded P100 million for the completion of the first three floors of the new Cebu City Medical Center.

"The preparation of the detailed work plan and POWE for the P500 million approved budget intended to complete the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th floors at a structural level is also underway. Once done, this will go to the procurement process. Once these additional floors have been completed, we will be able to service more patients," Labella said.

Labella also announced that the Carbon Public Market will soon be completed through an unsolicited proposal from Megawide Construction Corporation to modernize the biggest public market in the city.

"The Joint Venture Selection Committee is now in the final stages of negotiations with the proponent. I ask the council to support this important initiative," Labella said. JMO (FREEMAN)