AUGMENTATION SUPPLIES. Military personnel unload boxes of medicine and personal protective equipment from a C-130 military transport plane intended for health frontliners in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The supplies (inset), arrived via the Awang airport in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao on Tuesday (March 24, 2020), for distribution across the BARMM this week. (Photo courtesy of BPI-BARMM)
COTABATO CITY – Health frontliners of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in the fight against the coronavirus diseases 2019 (Covid-19) received a much–needed boost Tuesday with the arrival of a planeload of medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE).
“The initial set of medical supplies and equipment intends to augment the needs of BARMM health workers against Covid-19,” Asnin Pendatun, spokesperson of the BARMM Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid-19, told reporters here on Wednesday.
The supplies, transported though a C-130 military plane from Villamor Airbase in Manila, included boxes of PPE clothing, surgical masks, face shields, isolation gowns, Isopropyl alcohol, disinfection solution, thermal scanners, assorted medicine, and a turbo-misting machine.
“We need to prioritize the needs of our front liners such as our doctors, nurses, and health support groups,” Pendatun said.
He added that the transport of the supplies conformed with health and security protocols earlier set by the national government.
“This is just the initial batch of the supplies. We have arranged with proper authorities in Manila for the transport of more medical supplies and other needs through a schedule allowed by the government,” Pendatun said.
He said that the supplies would be distributed to the Covid-19 emergency operation centers in the BARMM province-components of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao, the 63 villages in North Cotabato, and the cities of Cotabato and Lamitan.
Moreover, he said that the BARMM’s IATF on Covid-19 is also finalizing its mechanisms and guidelines in distributing the relief packs to communities considering current quarantine measures being implemented in Mindanao. (PNA)
