Malabon, a city of heritage and food, is known for the hospitality of its people. But during this state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the creativity and resiliency of the Malabonians that shine brighter.
Roman Sebastian, a 25-year old fashion designer who is making a name for his wedding gowns and creative use of local fabrics, decided to temporarily shift to creating proper medical suits for Malabonian frontliners.
“After the lockdown, there were so many events that were cancelled. But instead of just doing nothing, I decided to use my talent and time to help, especially the frontliners,” said Roman.
“All the frontliners are heroes – from the ones doing their best to bring relief around the barangays, to those who give care to patients in the medical centers and hospitals.”
Roman learned that Malabon Mayor Lenlen Oreta was researching online on how to create protective suits for health workers.
Roman asked his friend who works in a hospital to show him what a personal protective suit looks like, and he decided to enhance the pattern to make it more wearable while following safety standards for medical suits.
Roman then forwarded the enhanced design of the personal protective suit to Oreta's wife, Melissa, who also helped in the project.
Through Roman, they got the services of sewers and dressmakers who were temporarily out of work to produce hundreds of suits that will be used by the frontliners.
The suits came in two colors – white and pink. White is for all the health workers while pink is for frontliners who are non-health workers.
The personal protective suits are also given to frontline teams – drivers, barangay health workers, and policemen, among others —who are first respondents if there are suspected cases of COVID-19 in any barangays.
The frontliners in pink distributed relief goods in all of Malabon’s 21 barangays, bringing a sense of hope and delight to those who see it.
Roman also created his own design for a face mask, using the inabel fabric as material. So far, he has already donated 250 pieces for the use of Malabonians.