Baguio to continue feeding vulnerable households until December

BAGUIO CITY — Vulnerable households would continue to receive food assistance from the city government from May to December, as the Baguio economy rebuilds once critical businesses are allowed to operate, according to a draft recovery plan.

As many as 10,000 families have been guaranteed aid under a social welfare proposal being drawn up for a transition plan, which would gradually reopen vital retail, manufacturing, and transport enterprises.

The Office of the City Social Welfare and Development has also laid out stress counseling sessions after May for medical and security frontliners who fought to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the summer capital. Psychological counseling would also be given to barangay officials who managed the neighborhood curfew and distributed food and cash grants to families who have stayed indoors for more than a month, said Betty Fangasan, Baguio social welfare officer.

Social workers are currently helping stranded workers and around 5,000 transient students who did not leave Baguio after the lockdown, she said.

Once the quarantine is lifted or when travel across borders become safer, Fangasan said the city intends to help workers head back home, citing shopping mall employee “who miss their families.”

Baguio had initially worked out a modified quarantine system for May 1, but Benguet province was included in a list of high-risk communities that required a second extended quarantine to last until May 15.

Its status is under review until April 30, but Baguio recorded 8 new COVID-19 infections on Saturday (April 25), raising the number of patients who contracted the disease to 25.

The spike was anticipated, due to aggressive mass testing being conducted by city healthworkers, said Mayor Benjamin Magalong on Sunday (April 26).