MINDANAO DAILY TRUTH. JUSTICE. PROGRESS.
Volume IX, No. 268
www.mindanaodailynews.com
P15.00
Mon-Tue, April 20-21, 2020
Zubiri donates COVID-19 test kits to Mindanao
I
N AID of the country’s continuing battle against the coronavirus pandemic, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri has set his sights beyond Metro Manila, donating six thousand (6,000) COVID-19 antibody diagnostic kits to hospitals in his home region of Mindanao. Two thousand (2,000) kits will go to Bukidnon Provincial Medical Center in Malaybalay, Bukidnon; two thousand (2,000 kits) to Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental; one thousand (1,000 test) kits to Caraga Regional Hospital in Surigao, Surigao del Norte; and one thousand (1,000) kits to Cotabato Regional and Medical Center in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). All are set to receive the donations on the 20th and 21st of April. This is the second wave of COVID-19 test kit donations made by Zubiri, after he spearheaded a donation
of an equal number of PCR test kits to the Philippine General Hospital through the University of the Philippines - National Institutes of Health earlier this month. “Kung sa Metro Manila lang tayo mag-focus, hindi natin matatalo itong COVID,” Zubiri insisted. “The longer we hold other regions back from massive testing, the higher the chances that the virus will continue to spread there, even with community quarantine. We can’t afford for that to happen. Dapat maagapan natin as soon as possible.” The test kits to be donated are the rapid antibody test kits recently promoted by President Rodrigo Duterte
Soldiers help carry loads of relief packs to Manobo community By CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN
SAN FRANCISCO, Aguisan del Sur--- A platoon of Army soldiers and local government workers have to carry on their shoulders sacks of rice and other food packs crossing two knee-
deep rivers and climbing up a hill for more than a kilometer just to reach Sitio Pan-ajatan, a Manobo community where 327 families await relief asSee RELIEF, page 11
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri
during his weekly briefings. These kits can be used without testing laboratories. “I know the gold standard of testing for COVID-19 are the PCR test kits, like those we donated to PGH. But in the absence of accredited laboratories across the country, these rapid test kits will have to do for now,” Zubiri said. “I am prioritizing these
areas of Mindanao, as the DOH has yet to accredit a single testing lab in these areas. This is one of my biggest frustrations, as there is only one accredited laboratory in Mindanao, located in Davao City and nowhere else at the moment. The DOH should cut the bureaucratic red tape and at least focus on regional laboratories See DONATES, page 11
An Army soldier and local government workers carry on their shoulders 25 kilos of rice never minding the knee-deep water on the river to reach a Manobo community where they distribute relief packs for Covid-19 quarantined residents in the far-flung areas. photo courtesy of the loreto municipal information office .
CCIFII Rolling Stores enhance ECQ in Iligan
THE Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation of Iligan, Inc. has launched its rolling stores in a bid to enhance the effectiveness of the Enhanced Community Quarantine in Iligan City. As defined by the Iligan Chamber of Commerce, a Rolling Store is a “One-StopShop” where consumers can buy their groceries, vegetables, fish and meat Provincial Governor Yevgeny Vincente Emano installed the 'transparency donation items within their barangays board' in front of the provincial capitol building as a public listing of all contributions without going to public and CCIFII Pres Reggie Punongbayan observes the operation of by private firms and individuals intended for the "frontliners" in the fight against the See STORES, page 11
one of the chamber’s 10 rolling stories. photo by rene b. pernia
COVID-19 virus in Misamis Oriental.
cd / photo supplied
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