The Department of Public Works and Highways has started clearing and disinfection works in the three mega tents at the Ciudad de Victoria estate in Bocaue, Bulacan prior to the construction of the “Heal as One” healthcare facilities.
Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said workers from DPWH Region 3 were deployed at the mega tents owned by the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) for the clearing and cleaning activities in preparation for the modification works beginning Monday, April 20, 2020, that will transform them into a quarantine center.
The three mega tents which will have nurses’ stations, sanitizing chambers, and test booths can accommodate about 300 COVID patients as planned.
An actual planning of layout concept was earlier held at the Philippine Arena complex by the DPWH Task Force on Augmentation of Healthcare Facilities headed by Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain with Assistant Secretary Leonita P. Gorgolon of the Department of Health (DOH); Atty. Glicerio “GP” Santos IV, Chief Operating Officer of Maligaya Development Corporation, and DPWH Region 3 Director Roseller A. Tolentino.
Also providing inputs at the meeting for the mega tent conversion plans are DPWH Task Force members from the technical bureaus namely Directors Aristarco Doroy, Eric Ayapana, and Ernesto Gregorio Jr.; Region 3 Asst. Director Denise Maria Ayag; and District Engineers Ramiro Cruz, Almer Miranda, and Asst. DE Aristotle Ramos of DPWH Bulacan 2nd, Pampanga 1st and Bulacan 1st District Engineering Offices, respectively. Representatives of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) were also invited.
With two days allotted for the clearing and disinfection by DPWH together with the men and equipment of the BFP, works for the DOH-approved quarantine facilities of 3.05 meter by 3.05 meter in size per cubicle similar to the facilities constructed in Clark will immediately start on April 20.
As part of occupational health and safety measures to personnel who will be working at the mega tents, temporary barracks will also be built by DPWH workers equipped with personal protective equipment all the time.
The three mega tents which will have nurses’ stations, sanitizing chambers, and test booths can accommodate about 300 COVID patients as planned.
Undersecretary Sadain said the DPWH estimates the whole development for the repurposing of mega tents into quarantine centers to be completed in 10 days or less.
The Iglesia Ni Cristo has also offered to the government its Garden Suites, also within the Philippine Arena complex, as separate housing facilities for doctors and medical personnel manning the mega quarantine facilities.