THE Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) has recommended lifting the city's state of calamity due to pertussis while declaring a new state of calamity due to dengue outbreak.
During a meeting chaired by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, the CDRRMC noted that there have been no recorded pertussis cases in the last seven weeks, with the last positive case reported on June 28, 2024.
However, dengue cases have been on the rise, with a total of 874 cases reported from January 1 to August 24, 2024. This figure is over 50 percent higher than the same period in 2023. Four deaths have been recorded, and 62 out of 180 barangays have reported clustered dengue cases.
Both recommendations will be forwarded to the City Council for approval.
Meanwhile, Treñas apologized for the delayed release of the advisory regarding the suspension of face-to-face classes due to inclement weather on August 27, 2024.
He said the Iloilo City Emergency Operations Center (EOC) needed to assess the rainfall volume before making a recommendation.
“Nagapangayo gid ko pasensya, medyo na delay ang aton announcement kay kagab-i nagab-ihan gid kay ginlantaw pa sang OpCen (operation center) kon ano ang volume sang ulan subong nga adlaw,” Treñas said.
(I really apologize that our announcement was delayed a little because last night, it was really late because the OpCen (operation center) was still looking at what the volume of rain was today.)
The mayor also instructed the CDRRMO head to expedite future recommendations for class suspensions.
“Amo na subong ang aton rule, better to make mistake than to allow the students to go to school and we call off classes, mabalasa pa sila magmalasakit,” he said.
(Our rule is now, better to make a mistake than to allow the students to go to school and call off classes, and get wet and sick.)
The suspension of face-to-face classes covered preschool to senior high school in both public and private schools. College-level classes were left to the discretion of school administrators.
According to the EOC advisory, Iloilo City will continue to experience light to moderate rain with occasional heavy showers due to the Southwest Monsoon. The city has recorded a significant amount of rainfall, reaching 45mm in just one day. This has led to flooding in several areas and raised concerns about leptospirosis. (Leo Solinap)