The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) broke ground for the construction of the P7.5-million municipal isolation facility for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in Medellin, Cebu.
Officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office VII and local government officials of Medellin, Cebu at the groundbreaking ceremony of the municipal isolation facility in Brgy. Panugnawan. (Photo from DSWD)
The isolation facility which has a land area of 200 square meters is one of DSWD’s Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) Kapangyarihan at Kaunlaran sa Barangay (KKB) sub-projects in Central Visayas.
The DSWD assured the public that the facility “will have a six-bed capacity with amenities that are compliant with existing standards to ensure that it will not compromise the people living nearby.”
The groundbreaking ceremony was held on July 14, marking the start of the construction of the facility in Barangay Panugnawan in Medellin, Cebu.
It was attended by KALAHI-CIDSS National Program Manager Director Janet P. Armas, DSWD Field Office VII Director Rebecca P. Geamala, Medellin Mayor Joven J. Mondigo, Jr., other representatives from the KALAHI-CIDSS National and Regional Program Management Office, and barangay officials.
“We break ground for thousands of people who will be spared from the illness, and our work as public servants plays a vital role in the community’s fight against the pandemic,” said Armas in her message.
Juanico Diaz, barangay captain of Panugnawan, said the isolation facility will not only benefit his constituents, but also the residents of the 18 other barangays of Medellin.
The DSWD said the project showed how it “continues to capacitate localities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“The project was conceptualized using the Disaster Response Operations Modality (DROM) approach of KALAHI-CIDSS which allows communities to shift their operations from regular developmental activities into disaster response,” it said.
Meanwhile, the DSWD disclosed that its Field Office VII provided P500,000 for the 279 KALAHI-CIDSS Cash-for-Work beneficiaries of Barangay Curva, also in Medellin, to help them in their economic recovery amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Through KALAHI-CIDSS, the DSWD hopes to continue to empower more communities in addressing their concerns by providing capacity-building and implementation support to poverty-disadvantaged and disaster-affected municipalities around the country.”