MANILA, Philippines – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has urged local government units (LGU) to prepare a local vaccination plan that contains the preparation of risk communication plans and conduct of early vaccine communication campaign to disseminate critical information on COVID-19 vaccination program.

In a statement issued on Thursday, DILG spokesperson, Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said LGUs should craft the vaccination plan as provided in Department of Health’s (DOH) guidelines on the national vaccination program, and to prepare this in coordination with their respective DOH-Centers for Health Development.

They must also coordinate with the Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Fire Prevention for logistical assistance.

The said plan must also include “a master list of priority eligible vaccinee population; identification of possible vaccine centers, available cold chain storages, and other logistical requirements; and a master list of existing human resources and personnel needed in the vaccination program,” according to Malaya.

“This COVID-19 vaccination will be the biggest of such program sa ating kasaysayan kaya ating hinihikayat ang mga LGU na ihanda na ang kanilang mga vaccination plan for we need this to be as smooth as possible sapagkat buhay ng ating mga mamamayan ang nakasalalay dito,” he said.

LGUs seeking authorization for emergency use for the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine must also coordinate with their provincial governments to ensure that there is enough vaccine supply for everyone, according to said.

In a recent advisory, the DILG directed the provincial governments to consolidate all purchase requests of their component LGUs and submit these to their respective Regional Task Forces for submission to DOH and the NTF Vaccine Cluster.

“Katulad po ng amin nang nabanggit, napakahalaga po na makiisa ang mga LGU sa tripartite approach sa pagbili nila ng mga bakuna,” Malaya said.

LGUs are also advised to procure not more than 50 percent of their vaccine requirement due to the current limited supply of vaccines worldwide, the DILG said.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said that the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses is expected to be delivered by February.

Once they arrive, the vaccines will be stored in government and third-party warehouses before their deployment to local health offices and hospitals.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Friday said it has granted a one-week extension on the deadline for the road clearing operations following requests by local government units (LGU) to give them more time to clear roads of obstructions.

The DILG said that instead of January 15, LGUs have been given until January 22 to complete their road clearing efforts.

“We extended the deadline for road clearing operations 2.0 because these are extraordinary times; we are in a pandemic and LGUs have a lot on their plate. We understand the request so the Department granted it,” DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said in a statement.

The DILG announced in November last year the resumption of nationwide road clearing operations, giving the LGUs 60 days to comply with President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to rid streets of illegal obstructions.

“This is, in a way, a little help to the LGUs so that they have more time to comply with the President’s directive,” Malaya said.

The validation period will be on January 25 to February 5, he added.

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año previously said that the road clearing operations now are different due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He said full implementation of the road clearing operations is enforced in areas under modified general community quarantine. Partial implementation is executed in areas under general community quarantine while road clearing operations in areas under modified enhanced community quarantine and enhanced community quarantine are suspended.

Malaya said that prior to the start of the validation period, the DILG will create validation teams in coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), for each province, city and municipality.

“This time around mayroon tayong validation teams na established at cross-posted, meaning, kung taga-Quezon City sila hindi sila puwede mag-validate sa QC, dapat nasa Taguig City sila o alin mang ibang lungsod,” he said.

Among the validation requisites are the actual removal of road obstructions; enactment of an enabling ordinance; conduct of an inventory of road obstructions; crafting and implementation of a displacement plan; rehabilitation of cleared roads; creation of a grievance mechanism; as well as the Tricycle Route Plan, the DILG said.

MANILA, Philippines – Joint operations conducted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yielded the recovery of an alleged New People’s Army (NPA) weapons cache in northern Palawan.

In a statement on Tuesday, PNP chief Police General Debold Sinas said troops from the PNP-Special Action Force’s (SAF) 101^st Special Action Company, Police Regional Office 4B (PRO4B) and the military recovered high-powered firearms and war materials in the area of Sitio Lanka, Barangay Bintuan in Coron, Palawan around 4 a.m. on Saturday, January 9.

Among those seized were two M-16 assault rifles, four rifle grenades, magazine assemblies, a bandolier and 184 rounds of M-16 ammunition.

Sinas said the operation stemmed from actionable intelligence gathered by government troops regarding the whereabouts of the NPA’s cache of firearms and war materials in the said area.

“The continuous operations of our troops have resulted to the NPA’s weakened state. The latest confiscation of this cache of high-powered firearms further incapacitates their key operatives,” Sinas said.

The PNP chief  also commended the SAF in its successive efforts implementing the President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 70, which aims to end local communist armed conflict.

The rifles will be subjected to procedural ballistics examination to determine if these had been used in previous crime incidents, the PNP said.