Senatorial candidate and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez on Wednesday called on every Filipino family to show “malasakit” (compassion) by actively pushing for a massive clean-up campaign of their respective barangays to prevent a full-blown epidemic of the dreaded Zika, dengue, chikungunya, malaria and other mosquito-related diseases.
Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association, made his appeal following the statement of Health Secretary Janette Garin that a resident of the United States who was tested positive for the Zika virus following a four-week vacation in the country last January 2016 could have been infected here.
“We have to show malasakit [compassion] now that Zika virus felt its presence in the country. No less than Secretary Garin said that the American resident may have been infected with Zika virus in the country. The DoH should take all precautions and the necessary preparations in dealing with it as part of what I call compassionate governance,” said Romualdez.
Zika virus is considered the largest global public-health crisis since Ebola decimated eastern Africa in 2014.
Romualdez, the House Independent Bloc leader, called on every family to extensively participate in a house-to-house “search and destroy” mission against Zika, dengue, and malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
“We have to encourage more families to participate in the search and destroy mission. The people should be more aggressive now,” Romualdez, who ran unopposed in the last polls and a former chair of the House committee on ethics and privileges, said, adding that public school classrooms should also be prioritized in the fight against the dreaded diseases caused by mosquitoes.
“Among the safety measures to fight the Zika virus is for households to clean up their premises and eliminate standing water where mosquitoes breed,” said Romualdez, a three-term congressman who is running for the Senate under a platform anchored on compassionate governance, pointed out.
The DoH said a report from the US-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that a non-pregnant adult showed symptoms of fever, rash, joint pain, conjunctivitis, and muscle pain during her last week of stay in the Philippines, and was confirmed to have the Zika virus upon returning to the US.
Zika is a mild case of the flu transmitted by mosquito species usually found in tropical and sub-tropical regions while the dengue virus is being spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and thrives in clean and stagnant water and the victims experienced high fever; headaches; joint, bone or muscle pains; pain behind the eyes; nausea or vomiting; and has swollen glands and rashes.
Romualdez whose key platform of governance focuses on improving jobs, health, education, agriculture and disaster preparedness also underscored the need for the local government units and the country’s health officials to aggressively disseminate information to put in place the necessary measures against Zika virus.
“The vital information against the virus should be disseminated regularly and the public must be reminded all the time about its dangers as ignoring it could trigger serious problem. This should be our malasakit to Filipinos,” Romualdez, shared senatorial candidate of Vice President Jejomar Binay, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago who all running for president, said.
“The government can’t do it alone. This big battle against this [Zika virus] needs the cooperation of each and every Filipino family,” Romualdez said. “We should not be caught flat-footed by this deadly disease.”
“It is better to err on the side of prudence,” Romualdez pointed out.
He also asked health officials to always update the public on the matter and “draw up a cohesive response to the virus and give the public clear guidelines on how to avoid the dreaded disease.”
The virus was first discovered in South America. Since then, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been prodded to declare a public health emergency before the mosquito-borne virus becomes an “explosive pandemic.”
