Six more dormitories in Metro Manila and some provinces are now available for medical frontliners amid the Luzon-wide lockdown due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Vice President Leni Robredo said.
“Two more dorms in Metro Manila are up and we have partnerships for temporary housing in four provincial locations,” Robredo, a leader of the opposition, said in a Facebook post.
This brought the total number of dormitories being operated by Robredo’s office in partnership with the private sector to 11.
The vice president listed the locations where COVID-19 frontliners can stay during the enhanced community quarantine.
The sixth dormitory is in Diliman, Quezon City, near hospitals such as East Avenue Medical Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, Philippine Heart Center, and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, among others.
The housing facility in Maybunga, Pasig City can accommodate medical frontliners working in Pasig City General Hospital and Tricity Medical Center, Robredo said.
The OVP partnered with Saint Paul College Pasig Batch ‘96 to provide this dormitory in Pasig City for health workers and frontliners.
Robredo’s office has opened more dormitories following reports of health workers being discriminated for the risks that come with their jobs.
Some of them have been evicted from their boarding houses and denied entry in their own communities because of their exposure to patients infected with coronavirus.
In the provinces, the OVP teamed up with The Oriental Hotels and Resort to provide free board and lodging for frontliners from Legazpi City, Albay; Mariveles, Bataan; and Tacloban City, Leyte.
“We also partnered with the University of the Cordilleras for a dormitory for health workers in Baguio,” Robredo said. (Raymund F. Antonio)