The city government here has conferred Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu with the Order of Rajah Humabon for his role in bringing down the cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) at the height of the pandemic last year.

In a statement on Tuesday, Mayor Edgardo Labella expressed the city government’s gratitude to Cimatu for his leadership in helping the city deal with the health crisis.

“Cebu City is proud of you because you have been instrumental in helping us deal with the Covid-19 situation last year,” Labella said in a mix of Cebuano and English.

The mayor also acknowledged the valuable efforts of Inter-Agency Task Force-Visayas deputy chief implementer Ret. Gen. Melquiades Feliciano, his wife Mia Fe, Cebu City Emergency Operations Center (EOC) deputy chief implementer Councilor Joel Garganera, and other stakeholders who “have been dedicated to curbing the pandemic”.

“We thank your efforts so we can recover from the Covid-19 crisis,” Labella said.

Acting Mayor Michael Rama led the conferment of the award to Cimatu during the city’s 123rd Philippine Independence Day celebration at Citadines Hotel here last Saturday.

Last year, Cimatu was sent by President Rodrigo Duterte to Cebu province, particularly to this capital city, to oversee the situation of Covid-19 after being tagged as the epicenter of the viral outbreak in the country.

The environment chief was able to put things in order here particularly on how to address the coronavirus crisis with the support of Feliciano.

Last year, Feliciano led the setting up of the EOC to harmonize the response efforts here, a system which was later applied and implemented in other cities in Cebu and the Visayas. (PNA)

Reposted: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1143755