TABUK CITY, Kalinga March 26 – The province’s lone congressional district and the provincial government assured stranded students from this component city and the seven municipalities that appropriate assistance will be extended to them while staying in their boarding houses in Baguio and Benguet awaiting for the resumption of classes.
Rep. Allen Jesse C. Mangaoaong disclosed that he and provincial officials reached an agreement during a previous meeting that instead of trying to bring the stranded students from the province back to their places of origin, it will bee best for the stranded students to remain in their boarding houses during the duration of the enhanced community quarantine considering the difficulty of travelling from Baguio city and Benguet up to their places in the different parts of Kalinga.
He added that one of the major agreements that was reached was for his office and the provincial government to provide the needed assistance to the stranded students for them to have the needed food for them to have the supply that will last until the lifting of the quarantine.
“We appeal to our brothers and sisters who are stranded in Baguio City and Benguet to wisely the use whatever assistance that they will receive from us so that they will be able to stretch the same until the lighting of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine. We remind them that they should remain in their boarding houses and abide by the policy on staying at home to prevent them from contracting the contagious virus,” Rep. Mangaong stressed.
The Kalinga lawmaker revealed that there will be assigned personnel who will be going around the given addresses of the students in Baguio and Benguet to distribute the assistance from his office and the provincial government that is why the stranded students should cooperate with whatever policies that are being implemented in the said areas to prevent them from being exposed to the virus that might compromise their health in the future.
Earlier, some 150 students from Kalinga called on their local officials and the local governments of Baguio and Benguet to extend whatever appropriate assistance to them while in the city or to provide them the needed transportation so that they could go back to their places while awaiting the lifting of the enhanced community quarantine and the resumption of their classes.
According to him, the stranded students should understand the decision of the concerned officials as what they considered in coming out with the agreement is for their convenience and safety, especially at the height of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.
He explained that it might be possible that the students might encounter people who might already have the deadly virus while in route to the province that is why the concerned officials thought it best to provide the appropriate assistance to them so that they will not be tempted to take the risk of travelling to their places that could expose them to the risk of contracting the illness.
Mangaoang called on the stranded students to remain in their boarding houses during the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine and for them to keep themselves safe for them to be able to pursue their studies once there will be future orders that classes in all levels will resume when the quarantine will be eventually lifted by the middle of next month.
By Hent