LA TRINIDAD, Benguet, Sept. 10 (PIA) – Almost six months since President Rodrigo Duterte declared the state of public health emergency in the country due to the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), the municipality of Kabayan remains the only one without a case among the 13 towns of Benguet
Mayor Faustino Aquisan, in today’s Laging Handa Network Briefing News hosted by PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar, bared the town’s secret to being Covid-free
Aquisan let out the SECRET where S stands for self- discipline which he said is instilled among the people in the municipality. The disciplined people follow protocols such as wearing of masks, social distancing and proper washing of hands.
E is for effective and efficient incident management team. He shared that in March, after the declaration of the enhanced community quarantine, the local government immediately organized its municipal inter-agency task force (MIATF) for Covid-19 that included all the punong barangays, and activated their incident command post.
C stands for close coordination with partner agencies in government and in the private sector such as the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, Citizen Armed Force Geographical Units, Barangay Health Emergency Response Team, private business establishments, among others. Even the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit or CAFGU, an auxiliary force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, were tapped for Covid preventive and mitigating measures.
R stands for respect to implementation of executive orders, memoranda and guidelines. Since the implementation of community quarantine, Aquisan said he had issued 35 orders in relation to COVID-19 which were all anchored on national and provincial interagency task force guidelines. He acknowledged the obedience of the Kabayan people in following said issuances.
E stands for excellent communication and information handling. Aquisan said the LGU designated a public information officer to handle all communication concerns and ensures systematic flow of information to maintain credibility. There is continuous communication between the MIATF and the barangay health emergency response teams and information, education activities are conducted in the barangays and sitios.
T stands for timeliness in addressing issues and concerns. Aquisan said they do ‘action agad’ wasting no time in responding to concerns.
Aquisan enjoined the people of Kabayan to keep up with their ‘secret’ weapon in keeping the town COVID-free even as Benguet has already recorded more than 200 cases as of Sept. 9.
“We still have to maintain what we are doing and what we have done through self-discipline. We will continue to cooperate,” he stressed.
He also thanked the association of religious ministers of Kabayan who are also helping in reminding their flock to abide by the law and the protocols.** PIA CAR, Benguet
