The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) deployed two of its “Hot Meals on Wheels” to Cebu as the province continues to reel from the imposition of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and the spike of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases since the start of this month.
“Tulad ng ginawa natin dito sa Metro Manila, nagpadala tayo ng mga food trucks sa mga lugar na apektado ng ECQ (As we did here in Metro Manila, we sent food trucks to areas affected by ECQ),” PRC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Senator Richard Gordon said in a statement on Saturday, Aug. 14.
“Siyempre hindi natin pababayaan an g mga kababayan natin sa Cebu kaya naman agad akong nagpadala ng food trucks para umikot sa mga apektadong bayan at barangay (Of course, we will not abandon our fellowmen in Cebu so I immediately sent food trucks to go around the affected towns and villages),” he added.
At 10 a.m. on Aug. 13, two of PRC's food trucks departed Mandaluyong City bound for Cebu City to help in COVID surge stricken province. It will boarded the MV Starlite at 3 p.m. bound for Bogo City, Cebu, before travelling to Cebu City.
PRC said that the Cebu bound food trucks are just two of 23 included in its “Hot Meals On Wheels” fleet. One PRC food truck can dish out 800 meals in a day in a continuous eight-hour operation.
Gordon, through the PRC, also sent medical tents and cadaver bags to the city this week to provide support to the City Government of Cebu as it battles the COVID surge.
“Iyang mga food trucks na iyan ay isa lang yan sa mga aksyon na gagawin natin. (Those food trucks are just one of the actions we will take),” Gordon explained.
Gordon maintained that there must be a system. “If there is an ECQ, vaccinations and testing must be intensified but the hungry must not be forgotten either - help is on the way, Cebu,” he said in Filipino.