MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has ordered the Department of Health (DOH) to deploy medical teams to evacuation centers amid growing concerns over possible disease outbreaks due to overcrowding.
In an ambush interview, the President expressed concern about the cramped conditions in many evacuation sites, which increase the risk of infections spreading rapidly among evacuees.
“Evacuation centers are very congested. If just one person gets sick, it could spread quickly. So we are ensuring that each evacuation center has a medical team composed of doctors and nurses from both national and local hospitals,” Marcos said.
The President also instructed the DOH to ensure that medical personnel are adequately equipped with supplies and medicine to respond immediately to any health issues among displaced residents.
“The responsibility of the national government is to provide enough supplies and medicine — that’s what we’re doing now,” he added.
Earlier, the DOH announced that it has P180 million in standby funds for emergency medicines and logistics. Prepositioned medicines worth P31 million have already been distributed to various evacuation centers for communities affected by Tropical Storm Crising and the enhanced southwest monsoon.
This measure is part of the government’s strengthened disaster response to safeguard the health and welfare of evacuees staying in temporary shelters.
