MORE so in times of crisis is a demonstration of Himamaylan City’s well and good governance.
As the entire province of Negros Occidental moves to general community quarantine, the City of Himamaylan has a pack of unique stories in its two months fight against Covid-19 which is worth sharing to other LGUs.
The city, a third class and only city of the fifth district, is led by a dynamic, energetic and liberal-minded Mayor Raymund Tongson, also the coordinator of fifth district development council.
Without experience in dealing with pandemic and its unimaginable impact on the wellbeing of the people, he relied mainly on his grasp of the general conditions of his city, technical and logistics capacity of the City Government, his work team composed of his City Council members and some of his executive assistants and department heads, and no less, his strong compassion for the people.
All this he fused into a simple strategy – direct good governance, a highly visible governance, and governance that almost never sleeps. This matters most to people in times of crisis.
Translated into operational strategy, he made sure that the city maintains a rotating skeletal work force at any given time to ensure that some important transactions and services remain unhampered.
Strong border controls in the city’s main highway and secondary routes have been ordered to function round the clock, 24/7, led by composite frontliners. On several occasions, Mayor Tongson and his work team stayed for hours in different border control areas to ensure right and well implementation of safety and security protocols.
Cognizant of the pivotal role of medical actions for the pandemic, he organized a group tasked to undertake monitoring Covid-19 local transmission, contact tracing, isolation, and the rapid coordination with Department of Health in the province for testing and treatment.
He transformed the West Visayas State University (WVSU) compound into a huge kitchen where volunteers tirelessly prepare the daily food needs of the city’s frontliners and then deliver by vehicles to different frontline areas.
Ensuring that the affected households and communities get on time and nutritious food assistance, he did away with giving the usual noodles and sardines during calamities, and instead organized teams that buy on a daily basis all the fisherfolk and farmers produce like fish, chickens, vegetables and dried fish, then pack them in WVSU and led the delivery to the different areas.
He also led the delivery of the food assistance to the mountain barangays. He revealed that in some rural households, people prefer fresh and dried fish and salt, because they seldom get this in “normal times”.
In other occasions, Mayor Tongson also led the delivery of PPEs to different communities, and even demonstrating them the proper use.
In areas where fresh potable water is a problem and there’s an absence of even level 1 and 2 water system, he organized delivery of bulk water using fire trucks, while in some areas, reviving dilapidated water reservoir. In some instances, he also led the distribution of filtered portable water containers donated by a development foundation.
On SAP distribution, the mayor and his team directly supervised the cash giving to households, leaving no one in the city’s priority list of the most needy and vulnerable. “The proof that we’ve never heard of any complaint on SAP or food assistance is I guess a proof that we have been doing right and well”, said Alejandro Deoma, a member of his anti-Covid management team.
So many other Covid-19 campaign activities have busied the city and the mayor for eight weeks 24/7 that made some residents and outside observers say “in the city, we are glad that governance never sleeps and the people’s needs are well attended to.”
When asked how his city fared in the fight vs Covid-19, Mayor Tongson said “I don’t know if it is excellent, very good, average, or whatever; all I am sure is that we have not been lacking in our active presence and public service with compassion. To me that is what direct and good local governance is all about.”
As of end of April, the City Government had already submitted its post Covid-19 Comprehensive Relief and Rehabilitation Plan to the Provincial Government, important part of the three-year plan is special assistance to sectors and groups distressed by coronavirus disease, road map for food security, and upgrading a pandemic or contagious diseases adaptive city’s health system.
“The next time we get this sort of pandemic, I am confident that our City Government will be in a better position to face the battle in ways that will minimize casualties and collaterals,” stressed Mayor Tongson.