The local government of La Trinidad, Benguet has enough funds for its Covid-19 response.
Mayor Romeo Salda said the Office of Civil Defense-Cordillera has released P1 million that will cover four months of rent of the Concordia College temporary treatment and monitoring facility (TTMF). The LGU also has savings for 2021 worth around P70M plus the Disaster Risk Reduction Management fund.
Major expenditures of the LGU include food for those at the TTMF, salaries for job order employees, contact tracers, and security guards assigned at the TTMFs.
Salda said they recently hired 20 nurses, two doctors, and security guards for the LGU-owned Strawberry Hotel and the Senior Citizens Center which have both been converted as TTMF for mild and asymptomatic Covid-19 patients.
He said the LGU is also completing procurement of beddings for a new facility at the Longlong gymnasium that can accommodate 45 patients.
Salda added there are enough vitamins for the frontline workers.
The mayor said the municipality earlier allocated P10M for the purchase of vaccines but found out that municipalities are not among the entities allowed to enter into a tripartite agreement with the national government and a private supplier.
“We have asked the provincial government to help us by collaborating with other municipalities who have allocated funds for vaccine purchase but in case we will not be able to use it because there are now several supplies coming from the national government, we can reallocate it next year or realign for other purposes about Covid-19 response,” Salda said.
At present, 31 percent of target eligible residents have been fully vaccinated. – PNA
