Thursday, February 21, 2008 Rama cautions on move to fine those who do not cooperate in anti-dengue drive By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
PENALIZING residents who refuse to cooperate in the campaign against dengue might boomerang on the Cebu City Government, Vice Mayor Michael Rama warned yesterday.
Rama’s views differ from Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s, who earlier said he supports the move of the Labangon Barangay Council in approving an ordinance that seeks to impose fines on residents who refuse to clean their surroundings.
At the City Council session yesterday, local legislators deferred discussion on the ordinance passed by the Labangon Barangay Council until they get a copy of the measure.
Punishment
“We have to be realistic if we approve that. If we fine the residents, can they afford it considering the economic situation and poverty level of the people? If we punish them, will it be reasonable or should we be the one to be punished for not being competent enough to provide the basic health services?” Rama asked the council.
“Maybe we should also be punished for not being proactive in addressing this issue even before it became a problem. Anyway, let’s just wait until we get a copy because it is subject to our approval,” he continued.
80 barangays
But the council is bent on exhausting other measures to prevent the spread of the dengue virus and eliminate the breeding sites of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
With the number of deaths caused by dengue increasing five-fold so far this year, the Cebu City Government decided to conduct a massive spraying of insecticide in all 80 barangays.
Unlike fogging, which only “scares” and transfers mosquitoes from one area to another, the spraying of insecticide will kill dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
After learning that 322 dengue cases have already been recorded in the city from Jan. 1 to Feb. 19, City Hall decided to conduct a massive spraying in all the barangays in the city starting this Monday.
The number of cases is 177.59 percent higher than the number recorded in the same period last year, at 119 cases.
The number of deaths increased by five times, with 11 deaths recorded so far this year. There were only two deaths in the same period last year.
High-risk areas
“The City Health Department will be the one to conduct the spraying everyday, focusing on the high-risk barangays until such time that all 80 barangays are covered,” said Councilor Christopher Alix, chairman of the council committee on health and hospital services.
Among the high-risk barangays are Talamban, which has the highest number of cases with 25 dengue cases and two deaths.
Barangay Guadalupe ranked second with 22 cases and two deaths, followed by Tisa with 19 cases and one death.
Barangays Inayawan and Mabolo have 17 cases while Labangon has 15 deaths.
In his news conference last Tuesday, Osmeña said he supports the move of Labangon to pass the ordinance, which the barangay council approved months after it topped the list of barangays with the highest number of dengue cases.
The mayor said it would be an effective way of compelling residents to keep their surroundings clean to eliminate the breeding sites of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
He also urged other barangays to follow Labangon’s example.
