BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia has requested City Administrator Em Ang and Dr. Chris Sorongon to retain their services with the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) despite having filed their certificates of candidacy for councilor of Bacolod City under Grupo Progreso (GP) yesterday.
Ang, who is the concurrent EOC executive director and COVID-19 Vaccination Council (CoVac) coordinator, said she has submitted her letter of resignation as Bacolod City Administrator after she filed her certificate of candidacy for councilor of GP yesterday.
Leonardia said Ang and Sorongon, EOC Deputy for Medical, have agreed to continue their services with the EOC so there will be no distraction of their work.
Ang said she was appointed as City Administrator last February 2020 and was tasked to manage the EOC in handling COVID-19 operations with the hands-on leadership of Leonardia and the able support of Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) chairman Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran.
Leonardia said they are going to recommend Secretary to the Mayor Edward Joseph Cuansing to take over the post of city administrator, subject to the confirmation of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
Meanwhile, Sorongon, a member of the Board of Directors of the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa), said they will meet with the BOD to discuss his situation.
On the other hand, Sorongon said they are still doing the right approach in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in the city despite the high number of deaths recorded.
The EOC-Task Force has recorded a total of 168 deaths in Bacolod City in September alone.
Sorongon said they are now strengthening their preventive aspects as far as COVID response is concerned. Just last week, the mayor assembled all the barangay captains and Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTS) in order to focus on the preventive aspects of the city’s COVID response.
“We are now intensifying our vaccination program, as well as intensifying our Task Force Disiplina. The Bacolod City Police Office is also conducting rounds at night to implement our city ordinances and executive order particularly on the minimum health protocols and liquor ban, and at the same time we are strictly implementing our boarder control in seaports and airports,” he said.*
