By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Bacolod City government announced they will be participating in the “Sabayang 4 o’clock Habit Para sa Deng-Get Out,” a simultaneous launch of the “4 O’clock habit,” which encourages local communities to clean their surroundings at 4:00 p.m. in an effort to prevent mosquito breeding places as a means of combating the spread of dengue fever.
Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia met earlier this week with City Councilor Cindy Rojas, who chairs the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) Committee on Health; Bacolod City Liga ng mga Barangay President Lady Gles Gonzales; City Health Officer Ma. Carmela Gensoli; and City Health Office (CHO) Environment and Sanitation Division head, Dr. Grace Tan at the Bacolod City Government Center to discuss a Department of Health (DOH) memorandum calling for local government units and barangays to observe the “4 o’clock habit.”
The city councilor said a meeting regarding the launch will be held for barangays next week, August 27.
In addition, the SP passed a resolution urging private and public schools, barangays, and local government offices in the city to participate in the “4 o’clock habit.”
Meanwhile, with DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier declaring a national dengue epidemic, the city was appropriated a P17.8 million fund to be utilized by the CHO to prevent dengue in this city.
According to Tan, the fund will be used for medicine, chemicals, and other equipment  for dengue response.
Based on CHO records, from January to August 10 of this year, the number of dengue-related deaths in the city totaled six, up from the three recorded in the same period last year.
The same data also showed there were 1,127 dengue-related cases reported this year./DGB, WDJ