President Duterte praised Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong for his efforts in dealing with the coronavirus threat in his area of jurisdiction.
The President has commended Magalong, a former police official, as a “good administrator” during his televised public address after observing the country is not in short supply of hardworking public servants.
Chief implementer of the government’s response Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier reported to the President about his recent visit to Baguio and how the city led by Magalong has started to reopen its economy.
“Dito sa Pilipinas hindi tayo nagkulang ng ano — for example, Benjie sa Baguio. He’s a very good administrator,” the President said.
The President issued the remarks after reminding local government officials to accept returning residents “with open arms” and extend medical assistance to those in need. He said they should not deny assistance to people especially those stranded in their areas.
Duterte has allowed Metro Manila shift to less stringent general community quarantine from the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) starting June 1.
Davao City, Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), Region 3 (Central Luzon), Region 4-A (CALABARZON), and the provinces of Pangasinan and Albay will also be placed under GCQ next month.
Duterte said the rest of the country will be under the modified GCQ.
Magalong earlier sent a letter to the government task force to reclassify Baguio as an area under modified general community quarantine instead of GCQ.
The city mayor argued that Baguio has been “relatively successful” in implementing COVID-19 response and management measures within its borders.
Magalong, in a statement, said of the 32 cases of coronavirus, 29 have fully recovered.
The case doubling rate in Baguio has slowed down to 24.44 days.
He also cited the improved capacity and efficient of Baguio’s healthcare services.
He said Baguio still enforces home quarantine passes for residents as well as implements stringent screening of persons passing through its borders such as submission of health declaration forms. (Genalyn Kabiling)
