Agriculture Secretary William Dar is pleased with the efforts and measures implemented by the city government of Caloocan in its current fight against the coronavirus disease or COVID-19.
During a meeting with Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan today, August 19, the agri chief congratulated the city’s team tasked to monitor and prevent the spread of the disease for the positive outcome of their undertakings.
“We believe you have the competence to fight this pandemic, and we’re happy to see the improvement in your efforts. Let us pursue policies and unified directions together in this fight,” Dar said.
The secretary urged Mayor Malapitan and other officials to provide him regular updates on the current COVID-19 situation in the city including the challenges emerging in the barangay level so he can make sound recommendations to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases and immediately address their concerns.
“Kung meron kayong gustong iparating sa IATF, ako ang tulay ninyo. We want Caloocan to succeed in this fight,” Dar stressed.
Last week, President Rodrigo Duterte tasked his Cabinet officials to “provide stronger support” to areas where there is widespread community transmission. These include the National Capital Region, as well as the provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna.
Under IATF resolution 62, Dar along with other members of the Task Force were assigned to “strictly monitor health system performance, critical care capacity, and stringent compliance to surveillance, isolation, and treatment protocols” in their respective assignment cities and town.
Dar was tasked to oversee Caloocan City.
“If there are still some gaps, let’s target and focus on that so we can level up our game. We are happy with what we’re seeing, magaling ang team ninyo. Kami ay naka-antabay at naka-alalay sa inyo sa laban na ito,” he said.
Mayor Malapitan thanked Secretary Dar for sharing his knowledge and providing guidelines for more efficient facilitation of measures to address the pandemic.
According to the city’s chief executive, they will continue to regularly monitor their barangays, impose the wearing of face masks, and strictly observe the 8 PM-5 AM curfew hours.
“We will continue to enforce our best practices to help the national government,” Malapitan said.
After the meeting, Dar turned over to the city government 100 urban gardening kits composed of seedlings, planting trays, fertilizers, and other inputs as part of the Urban Agriculture Program of the Department.
“We encourage everyone to join us in our Plant, Plant, Plant initiatives to ensure food security in the homes during these challenging times,” he said. ### (Adora Rodriguez, DA-AFID)
