The City of Tagum was placed under the State of Calamity due to the dengue outbreak. The declaration was made by the Tagum City’s Sanggunian through a resolution on November 20,2023,
The declaration was made fast by the City Council of Tagum dispensing of the usual process of three- reading and committee hearings. According to Tagum City Vice Mayor Allan L. Rellon the proposal for the declaration was certified as “urgent” by City Mayor Rey T. Uy.
In a phone query, Tagum City Vice Mayor Allan L. Rellon said the proposal for the declaration was certified as “urgent” by City Mayor Rey T. Uy and had met the necessary documentary requirement of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
The City Council was satisfied with the explanation made by the City Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) and Dr. Florendo, who presented the data showing that the number of dengue cases already went beyond the threshold and CHO had registered nine deaths.
Rellon was alarmed by the death of a three-year old due to dengue.
“We no longer had it passed through the usual process of three-reading and committee hearings,” he said, noting the urgency of the situation and badly needing the use of calamity fund.
As of November 30, CHO Tagum posted on its social media page the cumulative dengue cases, which totaled 1,075 since January this year. Of the total cases, 1,046 have recovered, nine have died, and 20 are new cases.
CHO Tagum also made known to the public the areas with clustered cases of dengue. These were the highly populated barangays of Visayan Village, Apokon, and Mankilam.
Nothing to hide
Others may have the tendency to hide community health concerns, but not in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.
For City Health Office chief, Dr. Arnel Florendo, revealing the truth is a “unique” strategy and a start to an effective solution.
Tagum City Health Officer Dr. Arnel Florendo during PIA Davao Del Norter’s radio program interview
Dr. Florendo is the most sought-after government health authority for interviews by private media practitioners regionally and nationally following the widely known dengue outbreak in Tagum City that prompted the Tagum Sangguniang Panlungsod’s declaration to put the city under the State of Calamity.
He received calls from national media personalities like “Kabayan” Noli de Castro of ABS-CBN TV Patrol and Teleradyo and Cheryl Cosim of One Balita Pilipinas, among other top regional and provincial counterparts from competing media entities.
He doesn’t mind the information on the adverse health situation in Tagum City going global as long as his office is marked to have implemented its strategy to mitigate and control the dengue outbreak.
“What’s unique? Ang atong pag-announce nga naay outbreak. Ang uban man gud itago (Is our announcement that there is an outbreak),” he said during the Philippine Information Agency-Davao Del Norte’s “Sayron Ta! Pakigsayod: Serbisyo Alang sa Katawhang Pilipino” aired over DXNR Radio 911, run by the Provincial Government of Davao del Norte.
“Ang uban itago. Sa akoa man gud i-announce, kay para magmatngon ang mga tawo. Ni-abot na sa global, it’s fine makabalo mo (While others tend to hide it, for me, announce it so people would become mindful. It’s known globally, it’s fine),” Dr. Florendo said, pointing out the need to also push for concrete measures to arrest the outbreak, aside from revealing the situation publicly.
Endemic in Tagum
Dengue-carrying mosquitoes are endemic in Tagum. It has been there “over a long period of time, Dr. Florendo said. He cited dry spells due to El Nino followed by heavy downpours of rain as among the reasons for the ballooning dengue cases in the city
He explained that empty canisters, open spaces, and other water-catch objects were left unattended and were suddenly filled with water when heavy rains came. The eggs that had laid dormant there became a swarm of mosquitoes.
“Nag La Niña, tapos naay El Niño. There were several days nga hastang inita. Nag-dry-up; napasagdan ang mga open containers, mga sandayong. Suddenly, mi ulan; daghang napondong tubig (There was La Niña, then El Niño. There were several days that the weather was very hot. Open containers and water drainage dried up. Suddenly it rained, and much water were collected),” he said.
“Nag-lay dormant ang eggs. When the rain comes, nag-blow up kalit ang mga lamok (Eggs laid dormant. When the rain comes, mosquitoes suddenly multiply),” he added.
Dr. Florendo also debunked the notion that dengue-carrying mosquitoes won’t thrive in the canals.
Per close observation made by CHO Tagum sanitary inspectors, silts of murky canal water suspend over time, and then mosquitoes hatch eggs in the upper cleared canal water.
He attributed these closely observed situations to the sudden spike of dengue cases to 190 in just the month of September. He, however, noted a decline as only 20 new cases were registered at the close of November.
“Although nagbaba na siya, ang footing of the city government, outbreak pagihapon. Mao gihapon ang among mentality nga double time lang gihapon (Though cases have gone down, the footing of the city government is still an outbreak. That remains our mindset, so we still do double time),” he said.
Meanwhile, the city government can now use its local disaster risk reduction calamity fund. Based on Republic Act 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Reduction and Management Act, the LDRRMF “amounts to no less than 5 percent of the income from regular sources.”
Strategic drive
Dr. Florendo recommended to Mayor Uy using “chemical warfare” against dengue vectors through the application of larvaecides and massive misting, which, according to him, would cost as much as P300,000 per community spraying that would not be done only once, especially in areas with clustered dengue cases.
“Dili na nato makaya sa search and destroy lang nga ginabuhat regularly sa atong sanitary inspectors (We can no longer do it with just the ‘search and destroy’ that our sanitary inspectors regularly do),” he said.
Dr. Florendo also pointed out the need to buy new and upgraded misting machines because the ordinary ones being used would not efficiently fit with the urgent drive of the CHO to contain the dengue cases.
He also revealed that the mayor wanted to purchase protective materials such as mosquito nets and screens for household distribution to prevent mosquitoes from invading houses.
“He is also looking at reactivating the sanitary inspectors,” Dr. Florendo said of the plans of Mayor Uy to mobilize more agents of mosquito busters.
Meanwhile, the CHO welcomes the assistance of civic organizations such as the Rotary Clubs of Area 2D in its misting and fogging operations.
With these measures, along with the massive information drive down to communities and households, Dr. Florendo is projecting to contain the dengue cases by March 2024, during which the calamity fund is expected to last.
The City Government of Tagum, through the CHO, uses only the standing operating procedures set by the World Health Organization, Dr. Florendo said, stressing the crucial importance of destroying the breeding places of mosquitoes: water in containers, whether big, small, or tiny.
Call to action
CHO Tagum Health Education Promotion Officer (HEPO) Rae Katherine Apura, during the same radio program, said that “with the 5S, we can never go wrong against dengue.”
The WHO recommended 5S against dengue, which mobilizes everyone to: search and destroy mosquito breeding places; secure self-protection; seek early consultation; support fogging and spraying; and sustain hydration.
As its HEPO connects with government and private media outlets and conducts
an information drive with the City Information Office (CIO), Dr. Florendo calls on all households to do their responsibility of thoroughly cleaning inside and outside their homes.
“Dili man pwede kami pa manglimpyo sulod sa inyong balay ug sa inyong sandayong. Kanya-kanyang lookout nato na (We won’t be cleaning inside your house and your own gutters. That is our respective lookout),” he said.
Dr. Florendo sees the drive against the dengue outbreak as a musical orchestra. He said the role of the city government is that of the musical conductor, while the households are the real musicians who are expected to provide the tune of the outcome of the war against dengue: a failure or a success.
“Dako kaayo ug participation ang community (community participation has a big contribution). We will not be successful without you. Tabangi mi ninyo (Help us),” Dr. Florendo said. (JMDA edited by JBG/ PIA Davao del Norte/ Photo courtesy: City of Tagum)
