MANILA, Philippines — A barangay hall in Pasig City was shuttered indefinitely after a village official tested positive for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Mayor Vico Sotto announced the closure in a late night Facebook post on Tuesday, saying it would enable other Barangay Sto. Tomas officials and employees who might have been exposed to the unnamed carrier to quarantine themselves as a precautionary measure.
Barangay halls are the central organ of most communities, where officials process crucial administrative tasks and often perform a function more akin to policing or social work.
Sotto advised residents who needed clearance from the village or had other urgent concerns to instead visit the Office of the City Administrator at Pasig City Hall. Sto. Tomas is mere blocks away—a walk from its barangay office to city hall would take about 10 minutes.
“We will also administer PCR tests to all the close contacts of the positive official,” said Sotto, referring to the swab test known as the gold standard in COVID-19 testing.
“Don’t panic,” he added. “The [barangay captain] and I are only resorting to this so that quarantining and testing can be done smoothly.”
Pasig has at least 613 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 73 deaths.
High hazard pay
The city council earlier passed an ordinance allowing Sotto to grant public health workers the highest hazard pay possible under a previously issued order by President Duterte. The benefit package would provide them with a P500 hazard pay for each day they reported to work between March 17 and May 31, the duration of the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila.
This meant that those who clocked in five days a week during that time would be eligible for P27,500 in additional compensation.
The provision of a hazard pay was just one feature of the ordinance called the Pasig City Comprehensive Measures for the Protection and Promotion of the Health, Safety and Wellbeing of Public Health Workers, authored by Councilor Corie Raymundo.