LET’S HAVE a bit of foreplay first. In this COVID-19 pandemic-induced Enhanced Community Quarantine or ECQ, most folks are turning to Netflix to keep their sanity and keep boredom away. Lately, one of the latest flicks on Netflix is now the talk of social media.
My comments on Netflix’s “Extraction”: it is so Bollywood that you sort of expect during a firefight scene (the movie is a firefight from beginning to end). The entire cast would just drop everything then line-up and do the classic Bollywood song and dance routine. Chris Hemsworth a.k.a. Tyler Rake is no John Wick, not even close. He is cute no doubt but John Wick is the epitome of cool.
Meanwhile on Twitter:
If you claim to be the daughter of rich hacienderos in Negros, it is expected – in fact de rigueur – that you be either an Assumptionis ta or a Colasa, or at the very least a colegiala from an exclusive girl’s school and not an alumna of Cadiz West Elementary School.
Likewise if shunga is your favourite expression, it just connotes ill manners and poor breeding, certainly one with no class or taste. If you think you’re hip using that shunga (whatever that means) you’re not, just baduy, in fact a third-rate social climber.
So what’s not a good idea?
Well, today is – supposedly based on Mayor Geronimo’s statement – the start of “I Am Iloilo City’s” change of status with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic; it is to be downgraded from ECQ to GCQ or General Community Quarantine.
But less than 24 hours before it was set to be downgraded from ECQ to GCQ, it is now back to ECQ based on an announcement by Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque and confirmed by the National Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
It appears I was right. It was indeed not a good idea. It appears to be very premature.
Take note, folks, that the coronavirus a.k.a. SARS-CoV-2 now more popularly known as COVID-19 is still pretty much around and really whatever change in quarantine status “I Am Iloilo City” has certainly makes no difference to the virus.
The virus has its own agenda and it moves around using people as its vector. The more people loose on the streets, the more mobile the virus is, bearing in mind that the virus cannot move by itself. It is people that moves the virus.
I am not a virologist, neither an epidemiologist, just a columnist. But looking at the situation shows that relaxing the restrictions might lead to more transmissions. As of Thursday the number of COVID-19 positive cases in “I Am Iloilo City” increased to 18, with nine new positive case.
And “I Am Iloilo City” is still expecting more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to arrive aside from the ones that got in on Wednesday.
Remember what happened when Mayor Geronimo lifted the liquor ban? It got out of hand that he had to reinstate it barely 24 hours after he lifted it.
Yes, just the like the ECQ, the GCQ still has restrictions and guidelines albeit on a more relaxed and scaled-down manner and would be sufficient, well that is if the natives follow them. Unfortunately most of them do not.
DISCIPLINE is what’s missing and unfortunately that is alien to most Filipinos. The ability to control themselves and to follow a set of rules for the general good is not even in the DNA of most Filipinos; it’s always about themselves, never mind the rest.
Here’s another “not a good idea”:
The Federation of Associations of Private School Administrators (FAPSA) said its member schools are eyeing opening of classes in June as they are ready to implement various teaching and learning strategies.
FAPSA president Eleazardo Kasilag noted that in a recent virtual consultation with the officials of the Department of Education (DepEd), the group “declared its intention to open most classes” for School Year (SY) 2021-2021 in June. This is way earlier than the school opening eyed by DepEd in August or the recommendation of the Inter Agency Task Force on Infectious Emerging Diseases (IATD-IED) to hold classes in September.
It’s not just a not good idea, in fact it is a stupid idea coming from so-called educators.
And finally, putting senior citizens (including healthy and productive ones) under quarantine is probably the stupidest idea. If implemented, it includes President Duterte and Mayor Geronimo. ((brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
Why is it that everybody follows in lockstep the idea that being imprisoned at home is the solution to not get infected with covid19. Despite all studies that states that corona virus is most contagious in enclosed and densely populated areas. As we all know the average filipino home is 20 square meters, why do we imprison people to get sick? The study also show that open and sunlit places are the healthiest environment to avoid corona virus, yet we close all beaches, parks, and disallows walking around freely in the open. Oh and another thing, why did we imprison 99% of our healthy population to apparently save 1%? And shut down major industries, and bring unemployment to untolerable levels which undoubtedly kill more people than the virus will. What we have is a bunch of like narrow minded, me too people in the IATF. Whatever happened to intelligent debate with all sides of the science open to discussion? Some of you should watch international news and debate ongoing on all these subjects. New York, Florida, and several states have either exprienced succesfull outcomes or discoveredf that stay-at-home policies is a killer! Vietnam has ZERO DEATHS! Did anybody call vietnam to find out what good coronavirus management is like? Of course not, the IATF keeps inventing buzzwords to justify the endless extentions ECQ,GCQ,MECQ,EECEQ, etc instaed of unblocking their limited brains.
So far what we have succesfully morphed into is the most successfull implementation of Martial Law without any recourse for all the suffering we have endured. We are on house arrest without due process and is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. I cannot in good faith give you my real name because of the fear of motorcycles with tandem riders coming abreast of me and silencing my voice.
This quarantine policy is not sustainable in any form after the 15th of May. Even the wealthy and big industries are starting to hurt and their recovery are suspect at best. Our financial systrem will take a huge plunge because we will probably lose 50% of remittance money from OFW’s. I for myself will leave this country at the first legal opportunity. I have no confidence that our present direction will be changed significantly. My condolences to the average and income challenged fiipinos whose govt subsidies are being stolen by the barangays and lgu’s in plain sight.