By Dominic B. dela Cruz (Staff Reporter)
Batac City—Coping with the crisis brought by COVID-19, the city government here went on its fourth tranche of distribution of relief goods with cash assistance to all families in the city.
Batac Mayor Albert D. Chua said they distributed 25 kilos of rice, two face masks, two blister packs of vitamins, one dressed chicken and PHP1,000 cash as the city’s local social amelioration to every family in the city.
Those who live alone also received 10 kilos of rice, one face mask, one blister pack of vitamins, one dressed chicken and PHP500 cash.
Mr. Chua stressed that the city government remains steadfast in their thrust to safeguard and help the Batacqueños recover from this pandemic.
The local social amelioration, the mayor said, came from the city’s savings and surplus.
Earlier, the city government distributed three kilos of rice, canned goods, noodles and bath soap; six kilos of rice, canned goods, noodles and one tray of egg; and 25 kilos of rice and two face masks for the first three relief distribution tranches, respectively
As for the national government’s social amelioration program, the city had 9,400 beneficiaries.
In line with this, Mr. Chua thanked the Rodrigo family in Batac, who donated PHP100,000 worth of relief goods, which the city government also distributed to Batac families.
Free rides
Aside from the relief and cash packs, the city government is also offering free rides since June 2, 2020.
The free ride, dubbed “Libre a Pagluganan”, and with the Batac-Laoag and vice versa route, is available from Monday to Friday. The schedules are: 7 am, to Laoag City, four buses; 12 pm to Laoag, one bus; 12 pm to Batac, one bus; and 5:30 pm to Batac, four buses.
The free ride points are at the Imelda Cultural Center in Batac and Provincial Capitol in Laoag.
Face mask ordinance
To further protect Batac residents from the pandemic, the city government implemented an ordinance on wearing face masks or other similar protective equipment at all times in public during this health emergency.
Violators of the face mask ordinance face fines of PHP500 for the first offense; PHP1,000 for the second offense; and PHP1,500 for the third offense.
Core office hours
Meanwhile, the city government here, beginning in June 1, 2020, is in full operational capacity.
June 1, 2020 marked the start of the modified general community quarantine in the province.
The core office hours, however, is only from 8 am to 4 pm and will last until the duration of the public health emergency.