Tarlac town focuses on people stranded by Luzon lockdown

CAPAS, TARLAC –– Transporting Capas residents stranded by the Luzon lockdown made Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan busy on Saturday (March 21).

He chanced upon 20 construction workers who walked from Metro Manila, which was the first major city to be locked down due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Edgar Guevarra, head of town’s public order and safety management office, said Catacutan fed them and asked the police to escort them back home to Nueva Ecija province, Rosales town in Pangasinan province, Tarlac City, and the Tarlac towns of Paniqui and Victoria.

Catacutan also requisitioned a bus from the Tarlac State University campus here to bring residents of Barangays  Patling and Sta. Lucia to the market because of strict quarantine measures imposed here.

On the same day, policemen fetched Capas residents who were stranded in Baguio City and ferried them back to Cristo Rey village here.

Catacutan said town workers have disinfected eight barangays and are working to disinfect 12 more. The mayor also prepared food packs to be distributed to 35,127 households, which would each include 5 kilos of rice.

In Concepcion town, poultry farms there donated P500,000 worth of chicken products, along with items from food companies, to benefit health front liners and barangay officials and volunteers, who are serving in the battle against COVID-19.

“So far, Concepcion is COVID-free with only two patients under investigation, who have been discharged from the hospital,” Mayor Andres Lacson said.

Lacson said the municipal government would provide every household with food packs good for a week to help them ride out the quarantine period until April 12.

Edited by LZB