BY MATÉ ESPINA
I ATTENDED yesterday’s Rotary Public Image Awards for Zone 10A which covers the Philippines. One of the speakers was Rotary International President Holger Knaack who gave a brief but meaningful message of how important for us to nurture the spirit of caring especially during this time of pandemic.
The past year has been difficult because of COVID-19. I haven’t embraced my two sons for over a year but I’m thankful that I can still talk to them and other members of our family, albeit virtually.
Many are saying it may take another year or so before we can go back to normalcy but seeing how we are faring compare to other countries that are now at the stage of vaccination, we may just have to adapt longer with the new normal.
The new strain was said to be more contagious but less deadly. Yet we are getting reports that this strain is now even deadlier and most of us know at least one or more who succumbed to the virus or went through it and thankfully survived.
The provincial government of Negros Occidental are further testing four returning overseas workers for the new strain after they recently tested positive of COVID-19. Their swabs were expected to be received by the Philippine Genome Center in Quezon City yesterday after some delays due to limited flights from here to Manila.
Two of the OFWs came from London while one returned from the US Virgin Islands and another from Egypt. It was earlier reported that the provincial government may file charges against returning overseas workers who withheld information from local authorities after two of them allegedly flew home without completing the mandatory quarantine period upon their arrival in Manila.
The couple who arrived from London tested positive in Manila last January 19. They were re-swabbed last Friday and still tested positive. They are now under strict home isolation until their results from the Genome Center comes back to determine whether they can be safely transferred to quarantine facilities here.
But despite the challenges we all go through, the private sector and civic organizations like Rotary clubs have been going out of their way to continue serving their communities in whatever way they can.
The Council of Rotary Clubs here went into action to help provide food and clothing to evacuees in northern Negros Occidental who were affected by floods in the past weeks.
Despite the threat of COVID-19, many bravely faced the challenge to help others. Of course one couldn’t help but reach out after seeing footages of residents on top of their roofs and thousands more crammed in evacuation centers with the pandemic farthest from their minds over survival.
Our club President, Engr. Glia Mabag was on the road for over ten hours, leaving her home in the southern part of the province at dawn to be able to join others in the distribution of food packs. Her car got stuck in a muddy plantation and she got rained on. But at the end of the day, it was “fulfilling” to see the appreciation in the faces of the people. It was not so much the gift packs but the message that they were not forgotten, she said.
Over the weekend, my friends and I were talking about how others have gone back to their normal routine. There were some that have done so irresponsibly such as the foam party in one of the local resorts here that went viral and is now being investigated by city officials.
Of course it is understandable for some to act that way since we cannot allow ourselves to be held hostage by this fear of the pandemic. Life has to go on but we must be responsible enough to protect ourselves and others.
Rotary clubs have been doing that and it’s amazing to see what some have been doing around the country to be of help to others.
One club that won in the awarding rites sent a beautiful message of “pag-ibig ang bala” (let love be the bullets) as they continue to serve far-flung communities in war-torn areas. It was a Rotary star-studded affair and the board of judges were former presidential spokesperson, Sonny Coloma, international PR specialist Nina Hazhala and Cecile Alcantara, the president of Coca Cola Philippines Foundation.
But more than the awards, the message of hope, of caring for others, of the value of friendship was emphasized as we are encouraged to call friends and relatives and simply ask how they are doing in this difficult times.
I remember a campaign to say hello that went viral early last year. Apparently, that was the son of one of my friends who stood in one corner in Makati with a placard on his chest encouraging people to call up their loved ones and ask how they were doing. With the lockdowns, people can easily get into depression and a call or two could be live-savers.
It will take some time before we get over this but as Knaack said, “we must not be diminished. To do anything less than our best short changes our future.”/PN
