THERE’S been a lot of talk in mainstream and social media that Vice President Leni Robredo is still acting coy on whether to run for president in the 2022 elections or not.
Will she or won’t she?
Lately, however the talks shifted to this: that she is seriously considering to run for a local position, mind you, not as barangay captain or kagawad but something much higher and with definitely more prestige and power – something like provincial governor.
And then we have this tidbit from Panay News on Facebook:
VP Robredo set to run for governor of Camarines Sur – Andaya
Former Camarines Sur representative Rolando Andaya Jr. disclosed on Thursday, June 3 that Vice President Leni Robredo is set to run for governor of their province in the 2022 elections.
In an interview with “‘Wag Po!” on One PH, Andaya said Robredo already changed her address from Naga City to Magarao.
“I talked to her directly. I don’t deal with her assistant… Residents of that town vote for our governor,” he said.
“Kasado na ‘yun (That is already sealed),” Andaya said, adding: “Lumipat na siya ng ibang bayan (She moved to another town) to enable her to change her voter address.
Andaya said he also wants Robredo to be the next president but her actions reveal that she is more inclined to run for governor.
Leni Robredo should run as governor of Camarines Sur as she would probably win and make a much better local government executive than Vice President and I say this with utmost sincerity.
As Vice President she just succeeded in making a fool of herself with her “pa-tweetums” ersatz colegiala Taglish and all those “desperately seeking photo-ops” resulted into consistently her making the almost tail-end of all legit presidential surveys.
It is embarrassing to see the Vice President doing all those silly “desperately seeking photo-ops” antics, not to mention her constant shrill whining on just about anything this government and the President does when as VP her only job is as a spare tire.
However, as governor she would be perfect for the job. She can go around the province (barefoot if she prefers) and have chitchat with the farmers and the fishermen. She can hobnob with the vendors in the marketplace and the market goers.
She can even visit all the toilets in the province and make sure that these flush properly so her constituents can have that perfect defecation experience.
All these stunts and more, done complete with the media and camera crew in tow, of course.
As governor there’s so much that Leni Robredo can do in promoting herself as the “mother of her province” i.e. meriendas in the provincial capitol, free spaghetti for the laylayan, etc.
And we segue to an article on www.gavi.org/vaccineswork:
What is herd immunity?
Herd immunity is the indirect protection from a contagious infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection.
This means that even people who aren’t vaccinated, or in whom the vaccine doesn’t trigger immunity, are protected because people around them who are immune can act as buffers between them and an infected person.
Once herd immunity has been established for a while, and the ability of the disease to spread is hindered, the disease can eventually be eliminated. This is how the world eradicated smallpox.
The more infectious a disease, the greater the population immunity needed to ensure herd immunity. Measles is highly contagious and one person with measles can infect up to 18 other people. This means that around 95% of people need to be immune in order for the wider group to have herd immunity.
The new coronavirus has a lower infection rate than measles, with each infected person passing it on to two or three new people, on average. This means that herd immunity should be achieved when around 60% of the population becomes immune to COVID-19.
However, natural herd immunity – achieved through infection rather than vaccination – can be challenging to induce through unchecked infection as there would be a very high rate of serious illness and death, with health systems overwhelmed well beyond their surge capacity, even in high-income countries. This is why herd immunity is generally pursued through vaccination programmes.
Even when vaccines are available, it is not always possible to achieve herd immunity for very long. Some viruses, such as seasonal flu, mutate frequently, evading the body’s immune response. So immunity doesn’t always last forever, which is why the flu shot is necessary every single year.
Mass vaccination has been highly successful in inducing herd immunity for many diseases, protecting those that are unable to build up immunity, such as people with immune deficiencies or whose immune systems are being suppressed for medical reasons.
When herd immunity is well established, however, some people choose to behave as ‘free riders’, essentially benefitting from everyone else getting vaccinated, while abstaining from vaccination either because they choose not to or are actively anti-vaccination.
When a population has too many of these free riders, the overall immunity level is compromised and herd immunity can be lost, putting everyone at risk.
So get vaccinated and protect yourself and your love ones. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com)/PN
