Duterte taps DND, DILG to reinforce action plan vs COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte announced Tuesday that the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) would now be ramping up the National Action Plan (NAP) against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Duterte said the NAP, which will reinforce the efforts of the Department of Health (DOH) against the outbreak, will be implemented by the military and the police.

“The Department of National Defense, the Department of the Interior and Local Government along with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police are now ramping the implementation of the National Action Plan or NAP as we speak to reinforce the efforts of the Department of Health in containing COVID-19,” Duterte said in a televised public address.

The President added that the NAP has Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana as chairman and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año as vice chairman.

Both of them will report their progress regularly, Duterte added.

In light of this, the President assured that the “government is working hand in hand to safeguard your health, safety and well-being in the face of threat posed by COVID-19.”

“We will address all the different issues brought about by this pandemic as well as ensure the protection of all our people, especially those who are serving in the frontlines,” he added.

Health officials have so far recorded 552 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of whom 35 have already died and 20 have recovered.

READ: Coronavirus cases in PH jump to 552; 2 more deaths recorded