MANDAUE City Councilor Nerissa Soon-Ruiz said Wednesday, July 1, 2020, that she will seek the Cebu Provincial Government’s help in acquiring a mortuary freezer to address the delay in the cremation of the remains of Covid-19 mortalities.
In an interview, Ruiz told SunStar Cebu that Provincial Board Member Glenn Soco was willing to propose a resolution on her behalf.
“I asked if they can provide us a refrigerated morgue. Even a refrigerated containerized van will do to ease the hospital morgues now,” Soon-Ruiz said.
She said the resolution that she filed before the Mandaue City Council a few weeks ago gained the support of all members.
She hoped a similar resolution at the Provincial Board would receive the same support.
The resolution was one of three measures that she filed before the City Council in relation to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) epidemic in the city.
“If you remember I have three resolutions. One was for the morgue, another for the crematorium and the third for a new cemetery. At least we’ll be able to address one problem,” Soon-Ruiz said.
She said she has inquired on the requirements for the construction of a crematorium and a new public cemetery under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.
Soon-Ruiz proposed the measures to prevent bodies from piling up.
She recalled that in the first few months of the epidemic in the Philippines, the remains of Covid-19 mortalities were placed along the hallways of Metro Manila hospitals as the morgues were full.
She said she personally heard Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año say that the government had to rent refrigerated container vans for the dead.