Bacolod City has been chosen as the only COVID-19 study site in the Visayas region, Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia announced in a Facebook post.
“In the midst of this health crisis, we are somehow placated that our city was chosen among the only four in the country for the case study to capacitate local government units in addressing the COVID-19 crisis and coping with the new normal,” Leonardia said.
The project, dubbed “Planning for Greater Resiliency, Addressing Pandemics/ Biohazards and Public Health Emergencies and Its Impacts to Most At-Risk Populations,” is a joint project of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Health (DOH), and the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
“We are happy because the expertise of these institutions in this particular field will surely redound to the benefit of our constituents in Bacolod. It should put us ahead in this race against the pandemic,” Mayor Bing said.
The Planning and Development Research Foundation will also be conducting case studies to provide index coping of experiences, sectors, resources, capacity issues, and innovations will be in the fore view of LGU roles.
The four cities were chosen on the basis of the four major geographical regions: Muntinlupa for National Capital Region, Baguio City for Luzon, Iligan City for Mindanao, and Bacolod City representing the whole Visayas.
“We are proud to belong to this select group, especially so that the World Bank has also recently designated us among the few pilot cities in its Technical Assistance Program on Green and Resilient Development in Select Secondary Cities in the Philippines project,” Leonardia said.