The Coast Guard in Camotes Island Cebu has donated part of their salary to buy relief goods for the residents of the island. | Photo courtesy of Coast Guard Camotes Substation
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel are considered frontliners in the war against the deadly Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) along with health workers, the police, government workers, and others.
And these PCG Central Visayas personnel in the Camotes Substation in Camotes Island, Cebu went an extra mile as they donated goods to the residents of the island affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the province.
Lieutenant Junior Grade Erick Salcedo, the spokesperson of PCG in Central Visayas, said this is a form of aid to the residents who could not work due to the ECQ.
“Ginagmay na tabang na kinasingsing. (A little from the heart),” said Salcedo.
The main job of the PCG is to man the checkpoints, conduct seaborne or coastal patrols, and to ensure peace, law, and order during the ECQ. But these officers took time to donate a portion of their salaries to help the common people.
“CGS (Coast Guard Station) Camotes personnel have initiated to donate a portion of their salaries to procure relief goods as part of the Intensified Community Assistance, Awareness, Response and Enforcement(iCare) Campaign Of Coast Guard District Central Visayas, that will be distributed to different households in the Municipalities of Camotes Islands,” said Salcedo.
Rice, canned goods and noodles have been packed to be distributed to the households of the towns in the islands including Poro, Tudela, San Francisco, and Pilar.
The PCG unit works in close coordination with local government units (LGUs) in Camotes Islands. The LGUs are responsible in identifying recipients of said goods in order to aid the underprivileged families severely affected by the pandemic.
“This effort also aims to encourage those who have more than enough to help out our fellow countrymen in these trying times. A help from the heart, because sharing is caring,” said Salcedo. /bmjo