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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Military aiding health frontliners to stem COVID-19 outbreak in Cebu City

Military aiding health frontliners to stem COVID-19 outbreak in Cebu City

Published Jun 30, 2020 12:00 am
By Martin Sadongdong The government is not militarizing its approach to address the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation in Cebu City, an official related to the city's response efforts has disclosed. Armed policemen man a checkpoint along a road in Cebu City on June 24, 2020, after the government tightened its enhanced community quarantine restrictions amidst rising cases of COVID-19 infections in the city. (Photo by Alex Badayos / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN) Armed policemen man a checkpoint along a road in Cebu City on June 24, 2020, after the government tightened its enhanced community quarantine restrictions amidst rising cases of COVID-19 infections in the city. (Photo by Alex Badayos / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN) Retired Major General Melquiades Feliciano, who assists Cebu City COVID-19 management overseer and Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, said the situation remains to be a medical issue and not a security one. "Medikal ang issue na ito, doctors ang authority (This is a medical issue and doctors have the authority.) Nandito lamang po ang military (The military is only here) to support the health workers in the prevention of spread and management of patients," he was quoted as saying in a press release from the National Task Force on COVID-19 on Tuesday. Feliciano was responding to claims made by activists that the government is supposedly taking a wrong approach in containing the surge of new infections in Cebu City by using military force, instead of strengthening its health-related response. He said the military was deployed in Cebu City to see to it that the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) protocols are being observed to curb the spread of the disease. "Kahit ano pong gawin nating medical intervention, if people are violating the rules, the minimum health standards, hindi po natin ma-stop 'yung threat (No matter what medical intervention we do, if people are violating the rules, the minimum health standards, we won't be able to stop the threat)," Feliciano noted. "The priority effort here is medical intervention. In fact, medical practitioners ang advisers natin (our advisers are medical practitioners)," he added. Recently, President Duterte designated Cimatu, a retired Army general, as the overseer of the government's COVID-19 response in Cebu City following the rapid increase in the number of cases in the area. Cimatu, who served as the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under the administration of former President Gloria Arroyo, has suggested that ECQ be retained in Cebu City as the national government took over from the local government to impose restrictions and stop the surge of new cases. Additional Special Action Force (SAF) troopers from the Philippine National Police (PNP) were also sent in Cebu City to ensure the strict implementation of ECQ. NTF COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said recently that the increase of cases in Cebu City could be attributed to the "poor" implementation of quarantine protocols. Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has deployed a 32-member military medical team in the city to reinforce the health care workers in the fronline of the fight. Cebu City is the only area in the country that is under the ECQ, the strictest form of quarantine status, effective until Tuesday, June 30. As of this writing, its fate is yet to be known as President Duterte is set to announce the new classification of quarantine status in the country on Tuesday night. The Department of Health (DOH) has recorded a total of 36,438 cases in the country with 9,956 recoveries and 1,255 deaths as of Monday, June 29. Cebu City accounts for 4,639 cases. It also has 646 recoveries and 81 deaths.
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