AgSur LCE vows to fast-track establishment of IP tribal house

BUTUAN CITY, May 11 (PIA) - The local government unit of San Luis, Agusan del Sur is gearing up its efforts to fast-track the construction of the tribal house for the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in the municipality.

During the Network Briefing News on Monday, Mayor Phoebe Corvera emphasized that the LGU wanted to help and assist the IPs especially those who are in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs) and need to travel far just to reach the town proper.

"We are hoping for it to be finished this year because IPs really need to use it since they are from GIDAs. They need to travel for four hours to get there; our fare costs as much as a plane ride. They can use the tribal house whenever they need to stay here or if they need to accompany a patient," bared Corvera.

When asked about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in the municipality, Mayor Corvera revealed that the LGU has already conducted mass testing since Friday and they no longer have active cases.

"On April 2021, the second surge of San Luis started but we were able to manage the local transmission. We have active contact tracers so we could contain everyone, with the help of the team in the LGU, they are very focused in monitoring," Corvera said.

Also, in the implementation of the government's vaccination program, Corvera underscored that prior to the vaccination, the LGU has conducted series of information, education, and communication (IEC) campaigns in the barangays to let them know of the advantages of the vaccine against the deadly virus.

"In the beginning, the LGU had difficulty because there was a lot of resistance, yet after strengthening the information campaign about the vaccination in the barangay, people have become optimistic and we are one with the provincial government in our target to achieve the 70 percent herd immunity," said Corvera.

The municipality of San Luis is a 1st class municipality in the province of Agusan del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 32,109 people.

San Luis was created into a municipality on June 15, 1968, when the barrios of San Luis, Santa Inez, Nuevo Trabajo, Cualision and Baylo were separated from the municipality of Esperanza and constituted into the new town, through Republic Act 5262. Since the 1970s, the town's economy has been largely based on logging industries. (JPG/PIA-Agusan del Sur)