MANKAYAN, Benguet – The Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMC) and the municipal recently strengthened their partnership to help in intensifying the ongoing battle by the government against the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) which continues to pose a serious threat to the health condition of the populace, especially with the emergence of the more infectious Delta variant.
Municipal officials led by Mayor Frenzel Ayong recently turned over to the Lepanto district hospital a brand-new ambulance that was purchased through the company’s Social Development and Management Program (SDMP) to help in improving the ongoing anti-COVID response efforts in the municipality, especially with the impending threat of the Delta variant which is now the cause for concern among many countries that were already hit by the more infectious variant.
Ayong stated that it is appropriate to provide the hospital with the aforesaid ambulance to help equip the health facility to ensure effective and efficient responses during calls for emergency from the residents as the hospital caters to the medical treatment needs of the people not only of Mankayan but also other neighboring municipalities in Benguet, Mountain Province and Ilocos Sur.
He recognized the importance of concerned government agencies, the local government and the private sector in trying to win the existing battle against the deadly virus because the same needs a holistic approach to break the chain of transmission and help in gradually and safely reviving the local economy which had been heavily impacted since the pandemic started in the country more than one and a half year ago.
The local chief executive underscored that government cannot win the battle against COVID-19 alone because it needs the active participation of every citizen, especially in complying with the ongoing implementation of the minimum public health standards so that the rapid spread of the virus could be contained to pave the way for the implementation of the recovery initiatives beneficial to the greater majority of the populace.
According to him, the local government continues to engage the private sector in the implementation of the various programs, projects and activities geared towards recovering from the pandemic so that people that were heavily impacted will be able to start gaining ground in their efforts to bring back the normalcy of their previous economic activities.
Lepanto is one of the large-scale mining companies that is currently operating in the municipality over the past eight decades.
The mayor admitted that most of the economic activities of the people in the different parts of the municipality had been heavily impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that is why efforts are now being done by concerned government agencies to aggressively implement the ongoing mass vaccination program to ensure that population protection and herd immunity could be achieved the soonest as it has been seen as the ultimate weapon to contain the rapid spread of the virus among the populace that might derail the roll out of recovery initiatives by the national and local governments.
“We hope that we will be able to further enhance our partnerships with the town’s private sector because we need the support of everyone as we try to recover from the serious negative effects of the pandemic. We have to start somewhere amidst the emerging threat of the more infectious variant that is why we have to be able to maximize our efforts towards recovery while containing the spread of the virus in our communities,” Mayor Ayong stressed.
Mankayan is one of the 5 first-class municipalities in the province and is also among the 3 first-class towns that rely on mining as its major source of income aside from agriculture. By HENT
