Lanao del Sur sets up more shelters for returning residents

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Engineers are setting up additional temporary shelters in Lanao del Sur province for returning Maranaws stranded in regions outside by the coronavirus quarantine.

Personnel of Lanao del Sur provincial engineer’s office are constructing the contiguous shelters in Barangay Sagonsongan in Marawi City, each designed to accommodate 150 to 200 people.

Marawi City is the provincial capital of Lanao del Sur.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has donated large tents to complement the shelter projects of Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr., chairperson of the provincial disaster risk reduction and management council.

“We need these facilities for returning locally stranded individuals and overseas workers,” Adiong said Saturday.

Lanao del Sur, a component-province of the Bangsamoro region, covers 39 towns and more than 90 barangays in its capital, Marawi City.

Provincial health officials had listed 113 COVID-19 cases in Lanao del Sur since President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire country under state of health emergency in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Reports obtained from the Lanao del Sur provincial information office and the Integrated Provincial Health office under physician Allen Minalang indicated that 5,200 LSIs have returned to the province as of July 10.

Adiong said the additional accommodation shelter projects of the provincial government for LSIs are being implemented using funds from the provincial coffer.

He said all returning LSIs and overseas workers are subjected to stringent COVID-19 screening before they are shuttled to their respective hometowns.

“We can’t take chances. We don’t want a spike in the number of cases we have in the province,” Adiong said.