Rep. Yedda, Rep. Martin thank Villar for malasakit to medical heroes
TINGOG party-list Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez, House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways on Tueday said they have turned over at least 56 air-conditioned rooms, mostly made of converted shipping containers, as temporary mobile facilities for medical frontliners in two Eastern Visayas hospitals.
The Romualdez couple thanked Public Works Sec. Mark Villar for his “malasakit” (compassion) in prioritizing the special needs of medical frontliners who are helping the country battle the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19).
Under the joint project of DPWH and the Romualdezes, the hospitals have been authorized to use the temporary mobile rooms with hot and cold showers as quarantine facilities or temporary shelters for medical frontliners.
“We thank Sec. Villar for his steadfast support to our relentless efforts against COVID-19. These converted shipping containers will serve as possible safe quarantine facilities or comfortable shelters for our medical frontliners,” they said, adding that construction of similar mobile facilities for various hospitals in Eastern Visayas is underway.
With the turnover, the Romualdezes said the 40 rooms made of converted container vans for Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in Tacloban City are ready to accommodate 40 of its medical frontliners or one room per person.
They said the 16 rooms made of fabricated materials for Schistosomiasis Hospital in Palo, Leyte will house 32 healthcare workers or two persons per room.
Last July, at least 160 medical frontliners of EVRMC were named beneficiaries of a joint initiative of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the Romualdezes.
The healthcare workers were billeted for three months free of charge at the Leyte Park Hotel & Resort and Madison Park Hotel in Tacloban City as a way of recognizing their heroism and sacrifices.
The Romualdez couple said the latest joint project also aims to pay tribute to the brave and selfless medical frontliners who have been valiantly responding to the call of duty to save lives and spare the nation from further COVID-19 devastation.
“This is in recognition of our healthcare workers’ courageous stand to deliver the services needed by the people in this time of COVID-19 pandemic. Some of them even sacrificed their lives so that the sick and afflicted may live and many have remained committed to save lives by placing their own in peril,” the Romualdez couple said.
In fact, they said the Babangon Tayo Fund or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2) “has P4.5 billion for the construction and maintenance of isolation facilities, including billing of hotels, food and transportation to be used for the COVID-19 response and recovery program by the Office of Civil Defense as the head of the National Task Force against COVID-19.”
Present during the actual turnover of mobile facilities from the Romualdezes’ offices were Glenn Capucion, Atty. Butch Corpin. Atty. Mark Reyes and Ms. Bonita Lariosa.
During the turnover ceremony, EVRMC Chief Dr. Buddy Evardone represented EVRMC Head Engr. Jose M. Jocano, Jr. while Schistosomiasis Hospital Chief Dr. Lyn Verona attended a similar separate event.
