LA TRINIDAD, Benguet– Benguet caretaker congressman and Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. Eric Go Yap was elated upon learning that the Baguio City Council passed a Resolution No. 359, series of 2020, expressing the sincerest gratitude of the people and officialdom of the city to him for allowing the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and automated extractions that he donated to the Benguet General Hospital (BeGH) to be temporarily loaned to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) to help in speeding up the release of swab test results from the designated sub-national testing center.
In a statement, Congressman Yap pointed out that the collective action of the local legislative body presided by Vice Mayor Faustino A. Olowan and City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong to give due recognition to his efforts in extending the needed assistance to BGHMC to facilitate the speedy release of test results is a welcome development but such recognition is not really needed because what is important is that something was done to help in improving the services offered by the testing center to the people from the different parts of Northern Luzon.
“Buong puso po tayong nagpapasalamat sa pagkilalang binigay sa atin ng Baguio City sa pamamagitan ng Resolution No. 359, series of 2020 na pinasa ng local na konseho noong nakaraang lingo sa pangunguna ni Vice Mayor Olowan at sa lahat ng bumubuo ng city council. Ganun din sa napakasipag na Punong lungsod, Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong, maraming Salamat din po,” Congressman Yap stressed.
The lawmaker recognized the important role that BGHMC is playing in the ongoing fight against the rapid spread of the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as almost all of the swab specimens from the different parts of Northern Luzon are dependent on its testing capacity being the only designated sub-national testing laboratory in the area, thus, he decided to procure from his personal resources a number of anti-COVID-19 equipment that included a RT-PCR machine and an automated extraction machine to help in speeding up the release of the swab tests.
He admitted that the country cannot win the fight against the rapid spread of the deadly virus if there will be a delayed release in the swab test results aside from the very few numbers of tests being performed in the different parts of the country.
Yap underscored that it is high time that concerned government agencies and local governments work on an aggressive offensive against the virus by intensifying the conduct of tests to a significant percentage of the populace and not to be solely on the defense against COVID-19.
The Benguet caretaker congressman is also personally shouldering the multi-million peso construction of the molecular laboratory in the BeGH to decongest BGHMC from the burden of having to accommodate swab specimens from Benguet and other parts of Northern Luzon and further speed up the conduct of tests and facilitate the immediate release of results to guide decision makers in coming out with decisions on contact tracing and possible lockdown of areas that have recorded COVID-19 cases.
Yap also recognized the dedication, patience and passion of the frontliners in continuously rendering services to the public during the wrath of the global pandemic as they chose to risk their lives to help in combatting the spread of the virus in the community.