Polegov

No one has ever found a cure yet to t he Coronavirus disease (COVID)19. The only possible ways to mitigate its effect are to avoid it using the approved health protocols, control its spread by identifying those who are infected, and tracing those who have contacts with the infected to isolate as well as treat them. The City of Ilagan in Isabela implemented programs that integrates these. Not only that, they also tried to automate contact tracing by developing an app that can be used even by less techy individuals. The app. called HealthGuard, was developed in partnership with Isabela State University. It is basically a contact tracing app that could give data and information to aid evidence-based decision-making. Do you also have a similar contact tracing system in your LGU? Feel free to leave a comment below.

  Gravel and Sand Quarrying in Albay The Municipality of Guinobatan, in Albay, is one of those that suffered heavily from Typhoon Rolly. Its losses include five persons dead and two more missing, and millions of pesos worth of destroyed houses, public infrastructure and agriculture. The cause: The quarrying at the foot of Mt. Mayon that flooded the barangays close to the volcano with sand, boulders and volcanic debris. Allegedly, the quarried materials were left in the riverbeds that when Typhoon Rolly arrived, the water pushed the materials along with boulders and rocks down to the residential and agricultural areas.  Investigation on this claim is still on-going and quarrying activities have been suspended already. Even then, the question lingers: Just how lucrative is the quarrying of sand and gravel along Mt. Mayon that even Albay’s provincial governor is allegedly engaged in it? According to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), quarrying of sand and gravel at the foot of the vo

In the Philippines, the bigger part of the burden in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic was given to the local government units (LGUs). Unfortunately, these LGUs are not prepared -- not just because COVID-19 is new but primarily because the current structures and systems are not really designed to make LGU work easier. These include, among others, the unequal distribution of resources, and the level and architecture of devolution. Some local governments, however, are able to adapt and develop innovations for their constituencies without breaking any law. Galing Pook Foundation (GPF) was able to document around 600 of these innovations from different LGUs nationwide and gave awards and recognition to a number of them. From award-winning innovations, Galing Pook developed the Adaptive and Innovative Leadership Course to hone the leadership skills and adaptive capacities of local leaders from both the public and private sector regardless of the situation. The course is timely that the

 In the previous post, we presented two of the major health-related functions of local government units under the COVID-19 pandemic, namely the identification of infected individuals, and the prevention of the spread of the virus. All LGUs in the country are, in one way or another, implementing these only that some are innovative enough than the others. 3. Referral and self-hep systems . Once the individuals suspected with Covid-19 virus are identified, they are automatically isolated and tested. If the result comes out positive, they are referred to medical institutions that can treat patients with the virus. Some LGUs, mostly cities, operate their own hospitals while the others rely mainly on arrangements between the local government and the nearest tertiary hospital in the area. In almost all cases though, especially when contact tracing is not fully functional, sick patients or those who experience COVID-19 symptoms but would like to be certain, would just the nearest hospital. Thi

When the Philippine government took Coronavirus disease (COVID) -19 as a real threat, among the first few directives of President Rodrigo Duterte is to mandate the local government units (LGUs) to take charge. So, apart from ensuring the social and economic aspects of the pandemic, local government units are also in-charged with health-related functions.  The President's mandate is just consistent with the Local Government Code particularly the devolution of some government's tasks and functions. Unfortunately, while these tasks and functions are real, the resources necessary remains largely in the national government. Even then, there are LGUs that are innovative enough to perform what is expected of them.  The primary health-related tasks under the COVID-19 pandemic and the LGU performers are as follows: 1. Prevention of the spread of Coronavirus. There is no vaccine against COVID-19 yet so prevention of its spread is dependent on everyone's cooperation particularly in ma

One of the problems highlighted, if not created, by the Coronavirus disease (COVID) -19 pandemic is food insecurity or the lack of access to a sufficient, affordable and nutritious food. The pandemic disrupted the economy and caused unemployment which in turn affected the purchasing power of the people. Further, the community quarantines also affected the transportation systems that the delivery of food supplies from the farms to the consumers were cut or, if not, diverted to areas where local governments are not strict.  COVID-19 has no vaccine yet and as such, it is expected that the virus will still be around for some time and that community quarantines and lockdowns might be implemented from time to time. As such, there are some sectors in the country as well as local government units that tried to adapt to the situation and innovate ways to ensure that food reaches the table.  Below are some of these innovations. 1. Distribution of food relief packs. This had been the common resp

One of the governments with the most interesting way of handling the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic is the Philippines. While the world was already showing concern over the virus, the Philippines is still permitting flights from places like China noted to be the Ground Zero of the virus. When the number of cases started to multiply, it was only then that the government acted. By March 2020, travel bans were imposed and this was eventually followed by the lockdown couched as "community quarantine".  So, what makes the Phillipine Covid response interesting? What are the characteristics of the Duterte Administration's efforts in responding to the current pandemic?  1. Covid-response delegated to local government units (LGUs).  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is an advocate of decentralization and local government empowerment. For this reason, he placed the burden of the Covid-19 pandemic is  to the shoulders of LGUs -- from the control of borders to containing