Communities in Marikina engage in ‘bayanihan’ amid quarantine

Communities in Marikina City have engaged in bayanihan to help one another amid the enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a 24 Oras report by Maki Pulido on Monday, a group of volunteers use the donations they collect to buy food and ingredients which they bring to various communities across Marikina.

Volunteers cook food for their respective communities four times a week.

What started out as an initiative that helped one community now regularly aids some 30 groups across the city.

“‘Yung sila kakain, sila magluluto; ‘yung sila mismo ang magluluto at sila mismo ang nag-aalaga sa kanilang mga pamilya, sa mga anak nila— that is very empowering,” Zena Bernardo, one of the founders of the bayanihan effort, said.

“Trenta kabahay ang makakakain niyan. Ang ginagawa namin, ipamigay namin hanggang doon,” volunteer cook Josephine Tejada added.

Feeding program volunteers were earlier arrested and later on freed by Marikina Police over illegal assembly charges and alleged violations of the law on communicable diseases. 

Quarantine facility

Meanwhile, the Marikina City government opened three quarantine facilities earlier on Monday. 

The facilities will be used by COVID-19 patients with mild or no symptoms.

Mayor Marcelino Teodoro also reported that four of the 12 frontline workers, including medical professionals, that they tested were positive for the respiratory disease.

“Kung frontliner siya, medical worker at nasa ospital at asymptomatic, araw araw may mga nakakaharap silang mga pasyente. ‘Yung tiningnan o ginamot nila ay maaaring magkaroon ng possible transmission,” he said. —Julia Mari Ornedo/LDF, GMA News