To help keep the youth informed on the latest directives from the city Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the corona virus, mobile “rekorida” has been conducted by the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation in Canlaon City.
Canlaon City SK Federation President Mark Iolo Clerigo said in his interview with Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar over the Network Briefing News recently that they adopted this strategy to fill in the gap in the information dissemination in their city in view of the remote location of most villages in the city.
Clerigo said they are educating the young people on the different guidelines during Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), General Community Quarantine (GCQ), and Modified GCQ and the latest ordinances approved by the Sangguniang Panglungsod, as well as the directives from the local IATF.
“Rekorida” is a form of mobile live public announcement, as announcements are delivered via speakers mounted on a moving vehicle.
“We are in the hinterlands, and napakahirap po talaga kasi iyong internet connection hindi katulad sa Manila or sa ibang lugar,” Clerigo said. Because of this challenge, Clerigo stressed the importance of reaching out to the people in the grassroots.
He added that they also hold information campaigns for the youth during barangay assemblies when the province was placed under MECQ.
Aside from “rekorida,” they also utilize local radio stations in broadcasting important advisories related to the pandemic as part of their measures to counter misinformation about it and the vaccines.
Moreover, the Canlaon City government was able to build its own Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) Center through the funding of the national government under the Bayanihan Act.
Canlaon City Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas revealed in an interview recently with Secretary Andanar that his local government received P43,092,804 as funding assistance under the Bayanihan Act.
Around P20 million was used for the construction of the EID Center and another P20 million was utilized to buy food packs and other medical supplies for the city’s medical frontliners.
The EID Center is used as quarantine and isolation facility for CoViD-19 patients in Canlaon City, the only local government unit in Negros Oriental to build such a facility. “We are proud that only Canlaon City was able to come up with a tangible project like this based on the funds that were given by the national government,” Cardenas said.
In handling CoViD-positive patients, the mayor said: “We are compassionate. We allow the patient to undergo home quarantine provided that the house should pass the assessment of our health workers. If it is not suitable for home quarantine, then the patient will be transferred to the EID,” Cardenas said.
The mayor added that while a person is under quarantine, the city government provides food packs through the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the quarantined individuals and their family.
The mayor said there is high public acceptance of vaccines in his city, noting that the number of residents who have completed their vaccination is around 1,000 to 2,000.
One of their strategies to deepen the public’s appreciation of the vaccine was to reach out to religious and community leaders who would help the LGU in promoting the benefits of the vaccine.
The Canlaon City Health Office also holds regular barangay visitation to convince people to get themselves vaccinated.
“For our vaccination plan, we go down to the barangays. We conducted another survey because initially, only two percent of our people have submitted themselves for vaccination. After that, we have set the target of 150 persons per barangay. So far, we were able to meet our targets,” Cardenas said.
The mayor said they started reaching out to the community leaders and they led by example, with barangay captains and officials availing of the vaccines until the LGU achieved a domino effect and more people were vaccinated. – NWI
