BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO
BAMBANG, Nueva Vizcaya (April 8)—The League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) has appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to classify all 1,400 mayors as frontliners and include them in the government’s priority list for Covid-19 vaccination.
In a letter addressed to Duterte, LMP national president, Mayor Luis “Chavit” Singson of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur states that “mayors are active frontliners taking the lead in ensuring the health and medical wellbeing of their constituents.”
“The mayors also supervise social amelioration programs and the distribution of relief goods to affected constituents and in overseeing the functionality of the local IATFs [inter-agency task force], including the operations of isolation facilities and the municipality’s temporary treatment and monitoring facilities as mandated by the national government,” Singson said.
He noted that in the course of this global pandemic, local chief executives and other local leaders are being infected, reinfected, while some are hospitalized and worst, a number have lost their lives in the course of their public service.
“Mayors first and foremost ensure that they are strong and healthy to protect their people and fight for them. People rely on their chief executives to safeguard their communities,” Singson said.
He explained that when there is a mayor infected by the disease, there would be a disruption in the management of Covid-19 response in the locality.
“Thus, this appeal to include our mayors in the vaccination priority list,” Singson said, adding that the reality on the ground demands the urgency of vaccinating local chief executives.
He also explained that in most cases in rural areas, people would go to the mayor before rushing to the doctor in times of emergencies and when they feel sick.
“During this pandemic, our mayors never stop working 24/7, exposing themselves and their families to the dangers of the Covid virus,” Singson added.
He said the LMP membership of 1,400 municipal mayors is confident that the President will heed the mayor’s league appeal.