Postponement of rapid test in Cebu City gives barangay officials time to air concerns – Ong

Cebu City ABC President Franklyn Ong

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Barangay officials from Cebu City welcomed the city government’s decision to postpone its plans to do rapid mass tests and hoped experts could shed more light on it before its full-scale implementation this Wednesday.

“We’re happy to know that even in such short notice, they called us for a meeting. Because there’s really a lot of questions and clarifications on how to deal with this,” Kasambagan Barangay Captain Franklyn Ong said in Cebuano.

Ong, who is also the president of the Association of Barangay Councils – Cebu City Chapter (ABC – Cebu City), told CDN Digital that village captains were summoned for an inter-agency meeting on Monday, May 4. Among its agenda is the rapid mass tests for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

A ‘strategic’ mass rapid testing in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu called Project Balik Buhay was set to start on Monday. However, due to mounting concerns from various sectors, they were all pushed back to Wednesday, May 6.

According to Ong, barangay officials were not properly consulted and briefed on how the program will be carried out in their respective territories prior to its supposed schedule of implementation.

“It was supposed to start this Monday, May 4. But there was no consultation conducted with the barangays before it could start… Even our health centers are not aware of everything about it, including the mechanics,” said Ong.

On Sunday, Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella announced that the city’s rapid mass tests, which are part of Project Balik Buhay, will be pushed back to May 6. Labella said the decision was made in order to address issues and concerns of barangays and residents.

Ong said among the most prominent concerns raised by barangay officials included protocols pertaining to the sampling for the rapid tests, and those who would be found out be positive of COVID-19 which had infected over 900 individuals from 29 barangays of Cebu City.

“We know there will be a lot of challenges. We have to know what’s the deal here because we are not briefed thoroughly. We have a lot of questions. And we don’t know yet the extent of this strategy’s efficiency,” he added.

In Cebu City alone, Project Balik Buhay targets over 23,000 individuals to undergo rapid antibody tests. The program was intended in the hopes to gather ‘scientific evidence’ that will serve as a basis for the three cities to relax their enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) by May 21. /dbs