March 29, 2024

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Eighty-two residents of this town, who were stranded in Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet since the declaration of the enhanced community quarantine, were brought home under the Oplan Suma-ar Program.

They will be united with their families after completing the 14-day quarantine.

Municipal Local Government Operations Officer Lourdes Claire Peel proposed the Oplan Suma-ar Program to Bontoc Mayor Franklin Odsey in anticipation of the influx of residents who will return to the municipality once the ECQ is lifted.

Under the program, the local government agreed to shoulder the transportation costs of stranded residents in Baguio City and Benguet who availed of the program, provided that they agree to undergo the quarantine and their families agree to provide their food ration while they are in isolation. 

Odsey said the repatriation of Bontoc residents stranded in Baguio City and La Trinidad was made possible with the assistance of the City Government of Baguio and La Trinidad under the leadership of mayors Benjamin Magalong and Romeo Salda, respectively.

Benguet State University President Feliciano Calora, Jr. also approved the request of Bontoc for the use of the BSU parking at the Strawberry Farm as the pickup point for repatriates stranded in La Trinidad.

Bontoc Municipal Health Officer Diga Kay Gomez and Development Management Officer IV Clint Gil Ildefonso of Department of Health provincial office coordinated with their health counterparts for the issuance of health declaration certificates of the first batch of repatriates. 

Repatriates living in the outskirt barangays of Bontoc are undergoing quarantine in barangay-designated quarantine facilities including vacant houses accredited after inspection and assessment by barangay health stations in consonance with DOH guidelines while those in the central barangays are undergoing quarantine in houses certified and accredited by the rural health unit in consonance with DOH guidelines. – Alpine Killa