We are Made for Service

CC upholds core value, allows city to use hotel as COVID-19 isolation area
Announcement draws mixed reaction from community
By Randell Jan Palatan
Staying true its core value of service, Columban College, Inc. (CCI), in coordination with
the Olongapo city government, made its hotel in the Barretto campus into a quarantine facility
for COVID-19 patients after a sudden surge of cases in the city.
In an official statement last August 17, college president and Chief Inspiration Officer
(CIO) Rev. Fr Raymann G. Catindig, Ed.D. confirmed the news and that Diocese of Iba bishop
Most Rev. Bartolome Santos, DD., did permit the said decision to use the hotel as an isolation
area for COVID-19 positive-asymptomatic cases.
“An emergency crisis that erupts unexpectedly can be addressed only by an equal
eruption of hope. A pandemic spread of a virus must produce a pandemic ‘contagion’ of
charity,” he said in response to the call for assistance of the city to the Catholic Church.
The school president further explained that the decision was reviewed and it followed the
guidelines set by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Inter-Agency Task Force on
Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) before being allowed.
“Columban College, Inc. with its sense of mission as a Catholic institution aspires to
thrive in the new educational set-up with every ounce of courage and relentlessness. We assure
you, our dear stakeholders, of your safety, health, and wellness as our top priority in facing the
greatest challenge that COVID - 19 brought us,” Fr. Raymann added.
This statement came in response to mixed reactions, not just from the Columban
community, but also from the local residents of Bo. Barretto where the hotel is located.
“Ang mga pasyente po ay dadalhin sa isolation facility (Columban Hotel) at diretso sa
kanilang mga kwarto, at hindi makalalabas at makakaikot sa hotel o maging sa Columban
compound,” Brgy. Capt. Angelito Baloy said in his Facebook post addressing the Barretto
community.
Despite the assurances, however, local residents were divided with the decision of the
government and church officials with some expressing worries of health risks even though CC
Hotel is an enclosed area and patients will be housed far from residential roads.
"This is the best decision the leadership has decided. Thank you to my CCI family for the
decision!" said Georgie Parian, former dean of the College of Business and Accountancy (CBA)
of Columban in her comment under the post.
However, some netizens don’t share the same view as her with a local resident suggesting
to use another college that is located inside the city closer to hospitals.
Several months in, the decision has yet to cause community transmission within the area
despite the influx of Olongapo and Zambales cases.

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