Mayor recommends calamity declaration in dengue-hit Kidapawan

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines - City Mayor Joseph Evangelista has asked the city council to declare all of the 40 barangays under state of calamity due to a high prevalence of dengue cases.

Evangelista’s office again placed under tight watch the barangays that accounted for the most cases of dengue fever due to its sudden increase in the past 60 days.

Health officials have also been monitoring the local communities for Chikungunya disease following an outbreak in an interior barangay in North Cotabato’s M'lang town, less than 20 kilometers southeast of this city.

The viral Chikungunya infection is also spread by mosquitoes, where patients suffer from joint pains, body malaise and recurring high fever, the same symptoms seen in dengue patients.

Six residents of Kidapawan City have succumbed to dengue from January to July 15 this year, according to records obtained from the City Health Office.

At least 300 patients have also been recorded to have contracted dengue during the same period.

City Vice Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco, presiding chairman of the city council, said they will discuss the mayor’s request for the Sangguniang Panglungsod to declare the city under state of calamity during their regular session on Thursday.