The third week of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) has just begun and with it come newer set of challenges. The news reports of health workers getting sick after being exposed to patients infected with the virus. At the same time, calls are made to private individuals to donate Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to hospitals handling these cases.
On the other hand, we have the workers from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) COVID who man the checkpoints and the streets, making sure unnecessary movements are avoided while barangay workers scour each home to distribute food and non-food items to keep them fed. The question now lies, while most of the country is focused on our health workers, who looks after them?
Luz Lazaro from Tallungan Reina Mercedes, Isabela is a Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) recipient and Parent Leader in their area. Through the Sustainable Livelihood Program of DSWD and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), she has received training on dressmaking, and even received a machine she now uses for her trade of making door mats.
She was inspired by social media posts showing private individuals donating materials to hospitals that she wanted to contribute as well. With the help of the Municipal Action Team of Reina Mercedes, she was able to collect materials that she made into 100 pieces of face masks and distributed it free of charge to the local frontline workers in the municipality.
She said, “Kahit anong hirap sa buhay, ang pagtulong sa kapwa ay mahalaga. Ito ang natatanging ambag namin (bilang nasa bahay lamang) para sa mga frontliners natin.”
On the other part of the province is Alan Medico Antonio from Salindingan of the City of Ilagan, he is a graduate of the Expanded Students Grants-In-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (ESGP-PA) who now works at the Department of Agriculture Regional Crop Protection Center in Quirino.
He recounts going home from skeleton duty when he noticed frontliners manning checkpoints using dusty cotton masks, probably the same mask they have been using since the ECQ started. Immediately, he realized he had to do something to help out and make sure they used a clean one everyday.
He got in touch with his highschool teacher who advised him to seek assistance from the provincial office of TESDA for materials. Together with his other family members, they began to make face masks by the bulk until they were able to make 1000 pieces which they gave to various teams manning checkpoint areas in the City.
His reason for making the contribution: “Kitang kita ko yung mga pagod na frontliners (sa checkpoint) medyo marumi na yung mga face mask, marahil ay wala na rin silang mabibilhan…Sa simpleng face mask na ginawa namin alam kong malaking bagay na iyon sa mga frontliners natin, para sa kaligtasan at kalusugan nila.”