BONTOC, Mountain Province – More than 400 students from the different parts of the province who were stranded in Baguio City and Benguet following the implementation of the ongoing Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine were assisted by Rep. Maximo Y. Dalog, Jr.
The lawmaker took the initiative of providing assistance to the stranded students studying in Baguio City and Benguet to compel them to stay in the said areas during the quarantine period and for them not to take the risk of going home to their places of origin.
Congressman Dalog claimed those who were provided with the assistance from his office were those who responded to the call of his office to provide their names and addresses through text or social media messages for the determination of the number of individuals that need to be provided with the aid.
He stated the relief packs prepared by his office for the students and indigent residents of the province had already been given to the identified beneficiaries in the early weeks of the enhanced community quarantine.
However, he admitted that the preparation of relief packs for the continued distribution of relief assistance by his office is encountering some setbacks as there seems to be inadequate supply of canned goods from the different establishments although his office is doing its best to access such supply for the continuous distribution of assistance to the people in need.
Dalog urged the people in the province to remain obedient to the guidelines from the inter-agency task force on the management of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases for the province to maintain its status as free from the dreaded Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).
He commended the frontliners in the ongoing fight against COVID-19 considering that they continue to sacrifice their time, effort and resources just to make sure that individuals with mild symptoms of the illness will not be allowed to interact with healthy people to prevent the possible spread of the disease in the community that will eventually ruin the efforts of the government in ensuring the province to be COVID-19 free.
The congressman stated that the conduct of time-honored rituals to drive away the evil spirits and prevent the deadly virus from entering the province have greatly contributed in the overall efforts of the government and the communities to thwart the possible entry of COVID-19 carriers that pose a serious threat to the health of the indigenous peoples in the future.
Aside from Mountain Province, the COVID-19-free provinces in the Cordillera include Apayao, Ifugao and Kalinga as the enhanced community quarantine will be entering its 5th week of implementation.
Dalog also cited the readiness of the health facilities in the province because of the enormous support infused by concerned government agencies and the provincial government to ensure that the government will win the battle against the highly contagious virus.
By Hent