BY ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
AFTER thousands or even millions of doses of anti-COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to the country, cases continue to surge “beyond imagination”.
What’s happening?
The figures are quite alarming.
As of April 9, 2021, the Department of Health (DOH) revealed that the Philippines logged a total of 828,000 cases; though 647,000 recovered, 14,119 perished.
Are vaccines not effective to curb COVID-19?
On TV, local government units (LGUs) all over the country are “bragging” their successful vaccine rollouts. But in Negros Occidental, mayors and the governor recently asked the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to revert the province to General Community Quarantine (GCG) due to surging cases of COVID-19.
A province-wide curfew from 8 p.m. to 4 p.m. will then be implemented until further notice.
Western Visayas executives also asked for an extension of the travel moratorium for returning residents from either Manila or Cebu.
The question is: What’s the real score now?
People seem to be irritated. They hate another round of GCQ, MGCQ and ECQ.
Stranded Negrenses and Ilonggos in Manila and Cebu are “crying” for help.
Most of them are returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) caught off guard with the recent suspension of flights and sea travels.
They feel “hapless”.
Some took to social media to vent their ire against some government officials in Negros for alleged incompetence in handling the situation.
Worsening the scenario are the political slogans “Run Albee, Run” and “Run Sara, Run” littering the entire city of Bacolod.
“Run Albee, Run” urges former Negros’ 3rd District’s Rep. Albee Benitez to run for mayor in Bacolod against incumbent Bing Leonardia while “Run Sara, Run” is asking Davao City’s Mayor Sara Duterte to run for president.
“Bullsh*t!” said a lot of netizens on FaceBook.
“Nasaan na ba ang bakuna?” they asked instead.
If DOH and the IATF reports are still believable, a total of 13.5 million doses will arrive in July this year.
These include Sinovac (three million), Gamaleya (four million), AstraZeneca (two million), J&J (1.5 million), Moderna (P1.5 million), and Novavax (two million).
With this, it is but natural to expect for the “worst”.
Well, another three months of waiting would mean another chapter of languishing leading to turmoil, which is quite unbearable to many.
God bless the Philippines!/PN
