BY MATÉ ESPINA
IF PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is to be believed, the reason why it was hard for the country to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is due to huge population problem.
Duterte was in Dumaguete City last Thursday to inaugurate the P366 million in improvements of the airport and ports in Negros Oriental.
In his speech, the president said that it is hard to observe social distancing to abate the spread of the virus because of huge population growth especially in urban areas. He went on to say that it was because we failed to implement family planning program because of the opposition from the Catholic Church.
Duterte cited former President Fidel Ramos who was able to implement family planning because he was a Protestant and the next is him.
Of course we know that is not fully truthful because all presidents have somehow implemented the program through the Department of Health. Definitely it was done silently and even some LGUs defied the program based on their own beliefs, but family planning program is a continuing health program in our country.
Needless to say, if the president wanted to hype family planning, there was no need to connect it with the pandemic because there are countries with huge population as well that have much lower cases than us.
The present population of the Philippines stands at a little over 111 million as of 2021 data. We have a recorded number of 603,000 COVID-19 cases, 546,000 of whom recovered while death rate is at 12,545.
Vietnam has a population of 97.33 million as of 2020 with only 2,529 cases of COVID-19 and 35 deaths.
Japan has a bigger population than us at 126.3 million as of 2019 yet they have 442,000 cases and 8,400 deaths and as evidenced by both countries, it’s not the huge population that led us to have more cases than them but our implementation of COVID-19 protocols.
The president probably forgot that at the onset of the pandemic, while countries went on lockdown immediately, we continued accepting flights even from high-risk countries like China. When the first recorded case was announced, they were considered isolated and it wasn’t until a couple of months later that we tightened our control and almost all LGUs went on lockdown.
I have been and will always be an advocate of informed choice birth control methods but I also understand where the president is coming from. Nevertheless, it can be advocated separately and not be made as an excuse for our failure to contain the pandemic immediately.
Still, it is a welcome relief that vaccines are coming in and although there is still a widespread fear of getting vaccinated, the public posts of medical practitioners and other health workers that they’ve gotten inoculated is helping allay fears.
My nieces, Erika and Em-Em, who work as nurses at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital here have been among the first to get the Sinovac vaccine. Several doctor friends here like Dr. Jundad Legislador in Bacolod and Dr. Victor Acepcion in Roxas got themselves vaccinated as well.
While there are apprehensions about the Sinovac vaccine especially, people are now advocating that it is safe to be vaccinated with whatever is available that no vaccine at all.
AstraZeneca vaccines are set to arrive in Negros and Bacolod as well and among the priority are the senior citizens. President Duterte himself said there is a need to hasten the vaccination program in order for the economy to open up as people are getting hungry and will need to work in order to survive.
Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways Region 6, turned over yesterday the additional 32-rooms isolation facility in Bacolod. This time, it is functional as it comes with its own generator sets.
The first facility was turned over last October to the city government but unfortunately it was not immediately used because it lacked power and water supply to make it operational.
Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya told me yesterday that both facilities will now be used as gensets have been installed in both areas. “Both are functional while awaiting connection from Ceneco,” Greg said.
The container-type isolation facility comes with all rooms fully equipped with air conditioning and individual comfort rooms, a nurses’ station, a utility room and separate medical quarters.
While we have seen a decrease in daily COVID-19 cases here, there is fear that because of the recent rise in cases in Metro Manila, coupled with the opening up of borders, there is no telling if and when cases will rise again.
Definitely, it will be a welcome relief to convalesce in a quarantine facility with such amenities than in public schools. Previously, these isolation facilities are meant to be recovery areas for COVID-19 patients that are fit to be transferred from a hospital facility so that there will be more beds available in our hospitals for severe cases, whether COVID or not.
I wonder if the same set-up will be established in the new facilities as it can really help decongest our hospitals./PN
