Council to Labella: Provide mobile canteens to frontliners

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Council is requesting Mayor Edgardo Labella to provide designated mobile canteens intended primarily for medical workers and other frontliners amid the COVID-19 crisis.

By providing these mobile canteens, the council said, they would help ease the burden and make work easier for the frontliners.

“Our frontliners have been working on long hours in their respective hospitals and barely have the time to go out and find food to eat. With this mobile canteen, it would make the work of our frontliners easier amidst the profundity of our situation now,” reads the council resolution penned by Councilor Prisca Niña Mabatid.

The council approved Mabatid’s measure on April 1, 2020.

Among those who would be provided with the mobile canteen are health workers, frontliners or those who are exposed to COVID-19 patients, persons under monitoring, persons under investigations, uniformed personnel such as members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, barangay peace-making and security officers, and other groups who are considered as force multipliers.

Mabatid said support should be given to the frontliners who are working to protect the public from the virus despite the risks.

“In this time of pandemic, our frontliners need our utmost support. A call to provide food for the doctors, nurses, medtechs and other healthcare providers can be achieved by the use of our mobile canteen,” she said.

Over the weekend, Labella visited border checkpoints to distribute additional supplies to the frontline workers.

The mayor expressed his gratitude to the personnel who are currently supervising and manning the checkpoints in the city such as the police officers, military officers, fire officers and other force multipliers.

As to the safety of the frontliners, Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Hector Grijaldo said the CCPO is planning to create a team to secure the frontliners amid the ongoing pandemic.

This after the City Council approved Councilor David Tumulak’s ordinance entitled “The Frontliners Protection Ordinance of Cebu City.” Those who will discriminate against medical and non-medical frontliners in Cebu City during a public health crisis, such as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, will now have to face the long arm of the law.  KQD (FREEMAN)