MARIVELES, Bataan – Not one of the more than 1,000 Chinese workers at a coal fired power plant here is affected by the novel coronavirus and talks going around that some of the foreign workers were sick of the virus was mere baseless rumor, authorities said Thursday.
Mayor Jocelyn Castañeda, her consultant lawyer Jose Michael Operario, and GN Power denied the presence of nCoV incidence in the town, especially among the Chinese workers in the power plant in Barangay Alas-asin.
GN Power operates two 300 megawatt coal power plants and is in the process of constructing two 600 megawatt plants.
Bobit Racelis, GN Power VP for community relations, said there are 1,000 Chinese workers and 2,000 Filipino workers in the plants.
Operario said that two days ago, their municipal health offi cer confi rmed offi cially that there was no case of nCoV in Mariveles.
“Dahil maraming Chinese dito, siyempre nagkaroon ng kaunting takot o alinlangan ang mga tao sa komunidad na baka merong infected. But officially as of today, wala pang reported case ng corona virus sa Mariveles,” he declared.
He said that even at the GN Power plant where there are many Chinese workers, there was no one sick of the virus and that it was confirmed by the company itself.
The company however said it has made some restrictions. “At the moment, negative daw sila sa pagpapasok ng mga galing sa mainland China. Naka-hold ang entry ng mga mainlanders sa kanila,” Operario said.
As to the preparedness of Mariveles on the virus, Operario said “Naka-ready naman ang probinsya pati ang munisipyo ng Mariveles sa pamumuno ni Mayor Jo na nag-establish ng mga protocols kung ano ang gagawin in case na merong reported cases and have established quarantine procedures. Naka-ready tayo.”
Operario, a pastor of the Faith Without Walls, Love Without Borders Church, said that the most important during problems like this is prayer: “Patuloy tayong manalangin.”
He said that the local government has no accurate figure on the number of Chinese workers as GN Power is under the Freeport Area of Bataan.
“Ire-request natin na sana magkaroon ng liberal access to information ang FAB kasi this is a matter of public health. Dapat malaman natin ang exact bilang at location ng mga Chinese workers at kung saan sila nanggaling. Very critical yan sa ating policy-making at protocol-making decision na gagawin in the future,” Operario said.
Verification
He also urged FAB and the provincial health office to conduct verification. “Sa public health kahit tsismis lang, dapat i-verify pa din, kailangan lang i-coordinate properly with FAB and PHO so we can move together.”
For her part Mayor Castañeda cautioned the public: “Tungkol sa kumakalat na meron na tayong corona virus o meron nang infected o merong may sakit ng ganyang virus, huwag po kayong maniwala dahil sa ngayon wala pa tayong ganyang information.”
“Dahil merong ganyang bali-balita, gagawa tayo ng paraan upang mas malaman kung meron nga ba o wala nang sa ganon magkaroon tayo ng precautionary measures,” she said.
Racelis dispelled rumors: “Walang kumakalat na balita, ang kumakalat ay tsismis at dahil ito ay tsismis, ito ay hindi totoo. Kung talagang may sakit na dito, dapat sarado na ang planta ngayon.”
He said that GN Power being a responsible company is ready for any eventuality.
“Tuloy ang aming pakikipagugnayan sa Department of Health para humingi din kami ng impormasyon sa kanila kung paano mai-prevent ang ganitong pangyayari,” Racelis said.
