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Goodbye Treasurer Al Miñosa

April 11, 2021 Ignacio "Toting" Bunye 350 views

I EMAILED him on April 5 to request for a statement of realty taxes I have to pay the City of Muntinlupa. I did not receive the usual quick response. I texted him on April 6, again no reply. I also tried calling him several times but he could not be reached. So I requested a mutual friend to tell Al that I have been contacting him. It was only then that I learned that Al had passed on that very same day.

Muntinlupa City Treasurer Al Miñosa, a good friend and an exemplary public official, died on April 6 – the 210th COVID-19 victim in Muntinlupa City. Earlier, Jennifer Bote, another model employee (she was Chief of the Medical Technology Unit of Ospital ng Muntinlupa) became COVID’s 199thvictim.

Even prior to Al’s and Jennifer’s deaths, Mayor Jaime Fresnedi already noticed a high attack rate of up to 211 cases per 1000 population among employees. This prompted Fresnedi to order, via an EO on April 3, the reduction of manpower reporting to the city hall and other government premises, more frequent disinfection and stricter observance of health safety protocols.

Fresnedi also enjoined the public to take advantage of online platforms in transacting with the local government.

The reduction in the work force covers offices in the Main Building, Annex Building, and People’s Center starting April 5, 2021 to give way to intensive disinfection, testing, and quarantine measures.

On April 5, the City Health Office conducted a mass antigen testing of staff who reported physically for work. The CHO is set to closely monitor all positive and probable COVID-19 cases among the workforce and implement strict isolation protocols, including contact tracing.

Office hours are now limited from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. to allow for daily disinfection of offices and other facilities within the compound starting at 3:00 PM.

A satellite work station has also been installed in the City Hall Quadrangle to reduce the impact of COVID-19 transmission in outdoor environments.

Under the local EO, Fresnedi instructed departments to conduct virtual meetings and avoid person-to-person meetings, especially when it involves more than three individuals.

As of April 4, Muntinlupa City has 7,820 confirmed cases with 6,378 recoveries, 1233 active cases, 209 reported deaths, 206 suspect cases, and 814 probable cases.

Recently, Ospital ng Muntinlupa announced a 136% bed capacity utilization on COVID-19 related cases as of April 4.

Muntinlupa Public Information Officer Tez Navarro said barangays were ordered to reactivate local isolation centers to accommodate asymptomatic cases and residents with mild symptoms to decongest primary health care and quarantine facilities.

Further, Muntinlupa City has started vaccinating members of A3 and A4 priority groups which include persons with comorbidities and frontline personnel in essential sectors, including uniformed personnel starting April 5 in 12 initial vaccination centers.

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