OPAV eyes COVID Playbook Academy in Visayas

The Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) is now planning to establish a COVID Playbook Academy in Visayas.

The proposed academy will be headed by Gen. Melquiades Feliciano, Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) chief implementer for the Visayas, said Assistant Secretary Anthony Gerard ‘Jonji’ Gonzales.

“Before, there’s no playbook yet for COVID not until Gen. Mel came to Cebu and successfully helped the LGU manage COVID. This is why Gen. Mel came to Bacolod to apply the same equation to Bacolod based on the Cebu experience,” Asec Gonzales said.

Cebu City has become a model city for other local government units (LGU) in the Visayas in terms of being able to significantly bring down the transmission of COVID-19.

The academy will become a learning hub for the best practices in addressing the COVID-19 crisis, Gonzales explained. It will be established in Cebu City or Bacolod City, or both.

Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, has called on other Visayas provinces and cities to implement the COVID Playbook for their anti-COVID measures.

“The COVID Playbook will help LGUs (local government units) in containing the spread of the virus,” Secretary Dino said. “With lower COVID-19 cases, LGUs can safely reopen and revive their economy.”

A crucial part of this COVID Playbook is the establishment of an Emergency Operations Center (EOC), a concept pioneered by Feliciano in Cebu City when it faced the worst state of the health crisis.

The local government of Bacolod City created its EOC early September upon the recommendation of Gen. Feliciano.

In fact, Bacolod City Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia shared that the EOC in his city has now become a new tourist attraction for the locals.

“This is timely as we slowly revitalize the tourism industry,” Leonardia said.

COVID-19 cases in Bacolod City has gone down following the establishment of its EOC.

“Gen. Mel’s COVID Playbook had worked well in Cebu and in Bacolod. And we want this to be cascaded to the whole of Visayas,” Gonzales said.

Aside from institutionalizing the EOC, other components of the COVID Playbook are the crucial measures in battling the COVID heath crisis such as testing, tracing and treatment, Gonzales said.

The proposal for a COVID Playbook Academy is an offshoot of the Train The Trainer (T3) program implemented by OPAV in Bacolod City early this month.

The T3 was a two-day training to local officials in Western Visayas to impart to them these COVID best practices.

The ultimate goal of the T3 program was to establish EOCs in all provinces in Panay and Western Visayas as a contingency plan to better manage the COVID-19 crisis in these areas.

The OPAV, in partnership with the IATF, has been extending technical assistance to LGUs in the Visayas to better equip them when it comes to their COVID response measures.