BATANG MAYNILA
Mayor Isko Moreno
I would like to express my profound gratitude to British market research and data analytics firm YouGov. It recently released a list of “Most Admired Men and Women in the Philippines in 2020” based on the result of a study that it conducts annually and which included yours truly.
I am very humbled by this blessing and recognition, specially so since I am in such good company, having landed on the third spot next to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte who deservingly topped the list and second placer Manny Pacquiao, our nation’s boxing icon and hard-working senator.
Congratulations to President Duterte and Senator Pacquiao and of course to the most admired Filipinas led by actress-philanthropist Angel Locsin, followed according to ranking, by Miss Universe 2019 Catriona Gray, singer-actress Sarah Geronimo, Liza Soberano, Marian
Rivera, and Vice President Leni Robredo.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank the YouGov for this welcome affirmation of appreciation of what we in the city government are doing, particularly by the citizens of Manila.
Rest assured that I will use this recognition as a source of inspiration for us to strive even harder in serving Manilans and making their lives better. We have a lot to be thankful for in the week that had just passed, not only for the recognition accorded by YouGov but more so, for the successful opening of the city of Manila’s second RT-PCR 9 (real time-polymerase chain reaction) molecular laboratory at the Sta. Ana Hospital.
Ayala Corporation’s top honchos Fernando Zobel de Ayala and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala joined me, Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna, and Sta. Ana Hospital Director Dr. Grace Padilla in the austere ribbon-cutting ceremony that formally opened the laboratory which has the
capacity to swab test 1,000 individuals per day. The first laboratory located at the second floor of Sta. Ana Hospital is able to test about 200 to 250 persons per day.
To the Zobel de Ayalas, my deepest gratitude for shouldering the costs of the building of the laboratory. Of course, as I have stated repeatedly, I am very thankful to President Duterte, the Department of Health, and the Department of Budget Management for their support on this project that we embarked on, as part of our efforts to combat COVID-19.
The new machines installed in the second laboratory located at the ground floor of Sta. Ana Hospital will produce an output of 90 tests per hour and the processes involved will be more tedious than the first laboratory since after extracting the virus, it will undergo amplification and other processes before finally being read by the PCR machine. .
In the first laboratory, the entire system is like a one-stop shop, where all that has to be done is to put the specimen in a cartridge, insert the cartridge into the machine which will then read it.
The turnaround time,or the period within which the entire process and results may be known, will be the same in both laboratories.
Right after opening the city’s newest laboratory, I issued an executive order directing the Manila Health Department (MHD) under its chief Dr. Arnold ‘Poks’ Pangan to conduct free swab testing for employees of malls, hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, vendors in public markets as
well as drivers of e-trikes, tricycles, pedicabs, jeepneys, and buses.
I strongly believe that in order to allay the fears of getting infected with COVID-19, there is a need to assure the public that employees of these frequently visited establishments are COVID-19- free and thus help spur economic activities.
In order to attain this objective without necessarily adding burden to the already struggling business sector, we find it imperative to provide the employees of these establishments with free RT-PCR testing, as the city’s proactive initiative in balancing health and economy for the general welfare of Manileños.
The heads of the Business Promotion and Development Office, the Department of Tourism, Culture, and Arts of Manila (DTCAM) and the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB) have been tasked to coordinate with the MHD and with it formulate the mechanics to effectively and
efficiently carry out my EO regarding free swab testing.
They are directed to make sure that establishments under their jurisdiction will require the filling up of mandatory health declaration forms for purposes of contact tracing.
Once again, I appeal to the public, specially Manilans, to continue observing the protocols prescribed by health authorities to avoid getting infected with COVID-19. No amount of government effort will ever succeed without the cooperation of the people themselves.
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Gaya ng paulit-ulit kong sinasabi, kailangan ko ang tulong ninyong lahat. Walang magmamalasakit sa Maynila kundi tayo ding mga Batang Maynila. Manila, God first!
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For updates on latest developments in the city of Manila, please visit my Facebook account –‘Isko Moreno Domagoso.’