RETURNING presidential spokesman Harry Roque must have thought of it as the best way to prove that he is a better “echo” of the master than Sal Panelo.
He kicked off his virtual press briefing on Thursday with a sermon against the pasaways who could not stay at home, thus violating the “enhanced community quarantine” protocol.
“At dahil po diyan, number one na naman po tayo sa ASEAN sa dami ng may COVID-19. Nakakahiya po ‘yan! Itigil n’yo na po ang pagiging pasaway, manatili po kayo sa inyong tahanan.”
Earlier on the same day, President Rodrigo Duterte had said on TV, “I’m just asking for your disiplina. Kaunti. Kasi kapag ayaw ninyong maniwala, mag-take over pati military at police. Parang martial law na rin. Mamili kayo. Ayaw ko.”
Lest Roque forgot, Duterte himself had gone pasaway when, in late-January 2020, he turned down the advice of Vice President Leni Robredo and Rep. Loren Legarda to ban flights from China due to the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) thereat.
As of yesterday, the Philippines had hit 6,259 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), including 409 deaths and 572 recoveries.
Well, we have seen Duterte talk about the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” (Republic Act No. 11469) passed in March, granting him additional authority to allocate at least P200 billion in subsidy to low-income households affected by the lockdown at P5,000 to P8,000 per family for two months.
But we have also seen on TV thousands of claimants not getting a single centavo, forcing them to eke out a living.
Here in Iloilo City, as in Manila, pasaway tricycle drivers pick up short-distance passengers, fearing “hunger” more than COVID. Otherwise, how could they buy food and medicine for their loved ones?
We may think of such reasoning as an alibi when applied to Iloilo City, where Mayor Jerry Treñas speaks on radio daily to assure that all 180 barangays are taken care of when it comes to food rationing. But who knows hunger better than the hungry themselves?
And who would be more interested in returning to “normal” within the next two weeks than the mayor who had campaigned to “level up” the city? With that in mind, he has implemented “rapid testing” of COVID suspects through the facilities of the regional testing center at the Western Visayas Medical Center. As we were going to press yesterday, Iloilo City had only five confirmed cases, including one fatality.
Prolonged lockdown would not only devastate the country’s economy but also the health of the socially isolated people who could fall into depression.
However, returning to normal would have to be gradual. Face masks and “physical distancing” are here to stay for a few more months.
Take it from Indonesia, where strict implementation of face-masking and one-meter physical distancing seems to be all that is needed to minimize COVID-19 contamination. They assume that the virus may only be transmitted from the carrier to the receiver through their noses, mouths, and eyes.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has refused to impose a lockdown, except a partial one in the capital city of Jakarta where a gathering of more than five is prohibited.
He seems vindicated by the fact that there’s not much difference in the numbers of COVID cases between his country and ours. Indonesia, which has a population of 273 million or more than double our 110 million, had 6,575 cases as of yesterday.
While Indonesia has 582 deaths against our 409, it has also more recoveries at 686 against the Philippines’ 572. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
