Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano expressed his gratitude and appreciation to Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr. after citing the city's initiatives to combat and stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Rubiano said that Abalos taking cognizance of their efforts to stem the rise of cases was doubly significant since it came from a former Metro Manila mayor.
“Masasabi ko po na espesyal talaga ang ginawang pagbibigay halaga ni Chairman Abalos sa ating mga inisyatiba sapagkat alam natin na isa rin siyang dating mayor ng Mandaluyong City (I can say that Chairman Abalos' citation of our initiatives was special because he was a former mayor of Mandaluyong City),” Rubiano said.
“At bilang mayor ay alam niya kung gaano kabigat ang problemang dulot ng COVID-19 na kailangan naming lutasin upang maibalik na sa normal ang pamumuhay ng mga mamamayan (And as a mayor, he knows how big a problem COVID-19 is and the effort required to solve it to bring everything back to normal),”she explained.
Abalos also urged other local government units to follow what the city did in combating the virus.
Data from the city's health office showed that active cases dropped from 987 on March 24 to 902 on March 27. In its update last March 29, the city's active cases dropped further to 888.
Abalos said residences and businesses were also placed under granular lockdown, totalling to 136 areas in two villages.
The MMDA chief also lauded the city government for its intensified mass testing from 6,472 swab tests conducted in February to 17,000 in March.