Four members of the House of Representatives on Monday urged the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to assume full control of the Quezon City’s fight to suppress the persistent spread of Covid-19.
Anakalusugan Rep. Michael Defensor together with Quezon City Reps. Anthony Peter Crisologo, Precious Hipolito Castelo and Allan Reyes complained in a joint statement about the city’s alleged “disorganized and ineffective leadership.”
“On account of the local government’s poor crisis leadership, Quezon City continues to log on a daily basis the highest number of new Covid-19 infections nationwide,” said the lawmakers.
“In fact, Quezon City’s cumulative Covid-19 caseload is now considerably higher than those of entire and more heavily populated provinces such as Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, and Rizal,” they added.
Defensor is running for the city’s highest post—challenging Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte.
Moreover, the lawmakers also urged Interior Secretary Eduardo Año to immediately designate a senior executive to take charge of the city’s fight against Covid-19.
Based on the Department of Health’s (DOH) Covid-19 Tracker as of October 30, the lawmakers said Quezon City’s cumulative caseload has already reached 173,977—easily topping Cavite’s 160,788 cases, Laguna’s 123,507 cases, Bulacan’s 103,416 cases, and Rizal’s 102,653 cases.
“If we break the figures down to cases per 100,000 population, Quezon City would still emerge with the highest number at 5,878 cases per 100,000 population, compared to Cavite’s 3,701 cases, Laguna’s 3,652 cases, Bulacan’s 2,788 cases, and Rizal’s 3,083 cases,” they said.
DOH figures show that last Octrober 31, they said Quezon City had 148 new Covid-19 cases, while Zamboanga City had 108 new cases. The rest of the top 5 were Baguio City, with 99 new cases; Manila, with 72 new cases; and the Municipality of Lubang, with 68 new cases.
“Due to recurring Covid-19 outbreaks in the city, many people are constantly put in harm’s way, while others continue to suffer from harsh restrictions, including granular lockdowns, that have made it extremely difficult for them to earn a living,” the lawmakers said.
“What is happening in Quezon City now is clearly a case of inadequate governance that can only be rectified by a DILG takeover of the efforts to contain Covid-19,” they added.