Alaska Mambaling has been placed under lockdown because of rising cases in the area. | Gerard Vincent Francisco
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Barangay Mambaling Captain Gines Abellana said that locking down Alaska Mambaling had become a huge challenge for his barangay.
The residents have been uncooperative, continue to go out of their houses, and even threaten the tanods and dismantle the barricades.
He said the barangay officials had been seeing hostility from the locked-down residents and the barangay needed the help of the police and military to control them.
“Dili gyod sila mopatoo. Mao na nanawag na lang kos mayor nga dili na lang nato na sila ilockdown, ato na lang na silang pasagdan nga managhan nang kaso diris Mambaling. Mao man kaha na ila gusto?” said Abellana.
(They do not cooperate. That is why I called the mayor that we should lift the lockdown, we let them run free and let the virus spread in the entire Mambaling. That is what they want, isn’t it?)
Read more: Mambaling breaks 500-mark of COVID-19 cases
A resident of Alaska, Mambaling told CDN Digital with request to remain anonymous that they were not prepared for a lockdown.
They do not have enough supplies and the heat in their homes are impossible to bear so they choose to go outside.
“Maynta hatdan mig pagkaon, wa man. Wala man gani miy tarong tubig. (If only they would give us food, but they did not. We don’t even have proper water supply),” said the resident.
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Abellana admits the barangay lacks the funds to feed over 4,000 families. They could only afford to purchase 150 sacks of rice. The city provided 1,000 sacks of rice, but this is still not enough.
Abellana also said the city promised 2,000 sacks. Still, the families would need food, medicine, and hygiene kits.
The lockdown of Alaska as a whole is draining the coffers of the barangay.
Abellana appeals to the kind-hearted to help Mambaling in this trying times. They expect the cases to continue to rise, and with the situation of the residents, the cases won’t be dropping anytime soon. /dbs