Barangay officials were urged to carry out diligently the Barangay at Kalinisan Day (BarKaDa) to help curb the rising dengue cases in the province.

Liga ng mga Barangay President Julius Cezar Tajanlangit urged his fellow officials to intensify the implementation of the BarKaDa operation at least once a week to ensure that their areas would not be a breeding ground of dengue-carrying mosquitos.

In Tobias Fornier, all barangays have their scheduled cleanup activity with the help of every household.

“In our barangay in Tobias Fornier, every Saturday, we have a cleanup activity with every household cleaning their areas to get rid of the breeding places of mosquitos. Households (are) also cleaning their houses to get rid of the mosquito breeding places,” he said.

Tajanlangit encouraged other barangay officials to do the BarKaDa campaign as mandated by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Memorandum Circular Number 2023-133.

Provincial Board member Victor Condez joined the call as he filed a resolution “earnestly encouraging barangay and municipal government units in the province of Antique to conduct a mandatory and weekly cleanup drive”.

“The prevalence of dengue cases is naturally alarming and health officials are notably on their toes to educate the Antiqueños,” Condez said.

The Antique Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) has recorded 512 dengue cases from Jan. 1 to July 25, 2024.

The province posted 300 cases of dengue during the same period last year. (PNA)