BY MATÈ ESPINA
AN ONLINE Hiligaynon dictionary translates “kabalan” in English as tough, thick-skinned, unfeeling, or having a dulled sense of pain.
And while I agree with the translation, it is still difficult to contextualize the word “kabalan” and how it comes into play as we see a continuing rise of COVID-19 in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City.
Western Visayas has a total of 4,991 active cases as of yesterday and more than half of that is in this part of the region with the province having 1,909 active cases while Bacolod has 900.
Negros Occidental is seeing a little drop in daily cases but Bacolod City is showing a big jump after recording 102 new cases for Saturday and 84 the day after.
City Administrator Em Ang who heads the Emergency Operation Center said the new cases include 46 inmates in the city jail, 14 policemen, and 19 employees of a talk firm.
What is more disturbing though is that for April alone, we already registered 23 deaths in Bacolod or about one each day, which is more than quadruple than the five deaths last March.
Em said they had to shut down the “talk firm,” which is akin to a call center that tutors English to Koreans after 19 tested positive from about 50 employees. They were all quarantined and the center, including the boarding house where these employees were crammed in, will have to be disinfected.
I’ve never dealt with death during this pandemic until yesterday when our aunt passed away in her home and we were suddenly in limbo as to what protocols to follow. Though she was not diagnosed with COVID-19, the house behind theirs is on lockdown and in the absence of a medical diagnosis, we had to have her cremated.
Fortunately, Em who is a family friend, responded immediately to my query and we processed the barangay clearance to declare she was not PUI or PUM, bring the same to the City Health Office for release of a formal death certificate before the funeral parlor will take her away for cremation.
Another friend who is a member of our Rotary Club of Bacolod Central tested positive last Wednesday and was whisked from her home and brought to one of the hotels here that have been approved as an isolation facility.
Saturday, we received information that she was transferred to a hospital after her condition went bad and by Sunday, she was texting us to help her find convalescence plasma. Thankfully before the day ended, someone donated plasma.
As often mentioned, I barely go out unless it is necessary. This weekend was one of those few times as I attended our Rotary District Convention on-site. I was glad that protocols were observed and we even had an antigen test before we were allowed at the hall where only a few people who were part of the program were present.
Our District Governor Louie Gonzaga was adamant to have a blended convention but in the end, we had to go full virtual when cases started rising in Bacolod and Negros. Nevertheless it was a very successful DISCON and kudos to the Rotary Club of Bacolod North who fully supported Gov. Louie.
We had wonderful speakers that talked about relevant matters on coping with this pandemic, to opening up of economies and why getting vaccinated may be the only option to do this.
Fr. Nick Austriaco, who was featured in this paper, was among our speakers and I am pretty sure he converted many non-believers in vaccines or those pushing for Ivermectin to embrace the idea of vaccination.
I was initially hesitant to go on-site (that’s how paranoid I am) but was persuaded when Governor Nominee John Michael “Kano” Ng who is from Iloilo crossed the sea to grace the event. It would look bad that I am from here and could not get out from my comfort zone to attend our presentation.
You see, in Rotary, leaders are elected three years ahead to give them time to prepare and the annual convention is where they are introduced to the assembly. Incoming Governor Edwin To could not make it from Zamboanga as there were no direct flights available. Kano will take over come 2022 while I take the rein in 2023.
And so, I went and was surprised to see a new mall on my way to the venue. That’s how long I’ve been so detached from reality that I didn’t realize development were continuing despite the pandemic.
The parking lot was filled with cars which gives me the jitters. And no matter how tempted I am to take a look-see, I’ll probably do it next year when most of our residents have been inoculated. It was a long way off from my place to the venue and I passed several corners, including an open market or talipapa by the side of the road.
And in each of these turns, you can see people in clumps, chatting away without a care in the world and it made me agree to those many posts I’ve been seeing that the only reason why our cases are rising is because “damo pa gid kabalan.”
