6ID to build isolation center for troops with COVID-19

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Army will start constructing next week in Camp Siongco a multimillion-peso isolation facility for soldiers afflicted with COVID-19 while out on frontline quarantine duties.

Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said Thursday the Bangsamoro regional government released on March 29 an initial P5.6-million tranche for the construction of the building inside division headquarters.

Abdullah Cusain, assistant executive secretary of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said the BARMM government has earmarked P11.2 million for the project.

Cusain turned over to Uy last March 29 two checks with a total amount of P5.6 million to jumpstart the construction of the building.

A number of soldiers under 6th ID got infected with coronavirus in recent months, apparently contracted while enforcing anti-COVID-19 quarantine regulations in support of containment programs of local government units.

"The officers and troops of 6th ID are happy with this support from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. We need this facility where Army personnel infected with COVID-19 can be confined and monitored by our physicians," Uy said.

The 6th ID covers central Mindanao’s adjoining Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Lanao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato and Sarangani provinces and the cities of Cotabato, Koronadal, Tacurong and General Santos.

Uy said he is thankful to BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim for providing the funds needed for the construction of the isolation facility.

He said personnel of the brigades and battalions under 6th ID are also grateful to BARMM Public Work Minister Eduard Uy Guerra and to lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, who is at the helm of the Bangsamoro local government ministry.

The two ministers are the proponents of the Camp Siongco COVID-19 isolation facility project.