Cebu City Council OKs P8.11 million budget

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City Council has approved a resolution charging under the Quick Response Fund of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management 2022 the P8.11 million manpower augmentation for medical officers, medical technologists, and nurses in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

Councilor Joel Garganera, EOC deputy chief implementer, sponsored the resolution.

Garganera said the EOC aims to expand the public health workforce of the city in providing case investigation, contact tracing, active monitoring, and vaccination drive through the deployment of five medical officers, five medical technologists and twenty nurses.

As provided in the EOC’s project proposal, the rate for the Medical Officer III is at P2,768.23; Nurse II is at P1,526.14; and Medical Technologist II is at P1,526.13. The period covered is from January to June 2022.

The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) also recommended to the council to charge against the quick response fund the manpower supplementation to all clusters under the EOC.

“The Emergency Operations Center requested the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council for fund to support the deployment of medical doctors, nurses and medical technologists to all clusters under their management… It is essential to continue their operation against the threat of COVID-19 which can be implemented through the manpower supplementation of the requested personnel,” read CDRRMC Resolution No. 025 series of 2022.

Second paragraph, Section 21 of the Republic Act No. 10121, otherwise known as the “Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010”, states that of the amount appropriated for LDRRMF, 30 percent shall be allocated as QRF or stand-by fund for relief and recovery programs in order that situation and living conditions of people in communities or areas stricken by disasters, calamities, epidemics, or complex emergencies, may be normalized as quickly as possible.

The EOC was created by virtue of City Ordinance No. 2624 on October 5, 2021 to prescribe the rules, procedure, and guidelines for emergency and pandemic response, and other public health crisis in the City of Cebu. — FPL (FREEMAN)