Calabanga spends P18M for Covid-19 assistance

CALABANGA, Camarines Sur --- The local government unit (LGU) here has spent some P 18 million for relief assistance to residents affected by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), Mayor Eduardo Severo said on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

In an interview, Severo said that the amount, provided by the national government, was used in providing food items and other necessities to town residents.

He said they also used part of the fund for the establishment and maintenance of quarantine and isolation facilities based on the standards of the Department of Health (DOH), and for the purchase of personal protective equipment of their frontliners.

Severo said the national government has given them a month to liquidate the fund release.

He said that there were some 400 locally stranded individuals (LSIs) who have returned to the town. As a result, the number of persons under monitoring in the town has doubled.

He said the Calabanga Community College in barangay Sta Cruz has been designated as quarantine facility exclusively for Calabangueños who tested positive for Covid-19, while the Manuel Y Garza Elementary School in barangay Paolbo is for LSIs who tested negative.

The mayor said that the LGU is regularly providing assistance to residents through the approved Covid-19 fund sourced from the 20 percent cut in the economic development fund and 5 percent cut in the calamity and gender development fund.

Based from the town’s 2020 approved budget, the economic development fund amounted to P39,154,00.00 while the budget for local disaster risk reduction and management is P10,950,000.00.