Koko and his Major Booboo

Last March 25, Senator Koko Pimentel tested positive for COVID-19. When he got the news, he was in Makati Medical Hospital. This instantly drew flak from the netizens and with good reason! Senator Pimentel had previously had fever, and had exhibited other flu life symptoms. For all intents and purposes, he was a prime candidate for being declared a PUI.

Before proceeding, let me add context. Senator Pimentel's wife was giving birth and that's why he accompanied her to the hospital. It wasn't him that needed any care, it was his wife and child. If I were to put myself in Senator Koko's shoes, I actually don't know what I would do. I'm simply thinking in terms of me and Nikki. If Nikki were pregnant and giving birth, I would do almost anything to get her to the hospital and be there for her. Not even COVID might stop me.

In that respect, I understand why the senator did what he did. Before Senator Koko is a senator or a public servant, he is primarily a husband to his wife and a father to his child. While I would appreciate it more if he had put all this aside for the common good, he did put his family first. As I'm getting married soon, I can sympathize with the senator. I still disagree with his actions given everything we know now about this virus but nonetheless, I can sympathize with him.

People criticize the actions of Senator Koko as being stupid and irresponsible. I wholeheartedly agree. But for me to agree fully, I have to come to a realization that I must practice what I preach. Our wedding was scheduled for May. As of now, there is no end in sight. Our back up plan was to have a small ceremony of our family and maybe a few friends (Gov. Gwen has banned events of more than 20 people). Pushing through with the date, however, might put in danger Nikki's grandma and my parents. We'd have to be in close contact with a photographer and his crew as well as the priest.

This whole episode has made me realize what's most important to us. And while I want to be married to Nikki as soon as possible, I cannot in good conscience take the risk with other people close to me. For now, me and Nikki will have to chose another date. And it's only now that I can truly say, "I'm fine with that."

The Domino Effect

No man is an island, they say. When COVID-19 hit last January, most people thought it was a problem that would isolate itself to China and its neighbors. It was only when several countries started reporting cases of COVID-19 that the local industries started to feel the blow.

Looking back, even when it was only China that had a majority of cases, most of the companies that deal with manufacturing in China felt the blow already. Friends of mine who work in a local furniture company told me that they had to cancel their trip to China and that their counterparts in China weren't even going to work.

Flash forward a few days and since Chinese tourists were no longer coming in, city hotels began to feel the effects of the virus. With more people becoming more wary of traveling in general, airlines, online booking agencies, resorts, airbnbs began to have an influx of inquiries to ask for refund for their prior bookings.

With less tourists in the city, local restaurants also saw a hit to their sales. Taxi operators also have a hard time keeping up as they would only be able to cater to locals. As the virus spread even more and the government started issuing warnings on going out into the public, malls, gyms, department stores are having a hard time these days. Then the gasoline stations also took a hit. This is something I seriously did not consider would be affected.

These days, I try to identify which industries would not be affected by COVID-19. I had pegged the petroleum industry to be untouchable as I couldn't see how less tourists would equate to a considerable drop in gas usage. I'm now eyeing FMCGs as an industry that isn't affected negatively in this scenario though I think I will be proven wrong as well. Pharmaceuticals will probably see a big win in this though I doubt it will be a sustained success on their part. I think there's one part of the equation I'm simply not seeing right now.

For now, I'm simply assuming no industry is safe. As such, we all should double down on the efforts that we as citizens can take. Handwashing, cough etiquette must be practiced strictly. And with the community quarantine rules being implemented everywhere, stay at home as much as possible. Leave only for the essentials - food, water, medical emergencies, etc.

The Virus isn't Political

Since college, me and my friends have had differing views on politics. Some were for Arroyo, others were staunch critics. During the 2010 elections, I had friends who supported Noynoy, Gibo, and even Erap. When the 2016 elections came along, me and my friends supported different candidates - vastly different candidates. During the midterm elections last year, yet again, we supported different political parties.

I, for one, voted for Duterte. I'm honestly disappointed by his performance but wouldn't go any other way if given the chance. Since 2016, my political ideas have changed and I was only able to put them into practice in the 2019 midterm elections. Those close to me know I didn't vote along party lines. I looked at what each candidate brought to the table and voted accordingly.

Flash forward to today. Duterte announced a community quarantine (that, let's face it, is a lockdown of sorts) of Metro Manila. A few days ago, the province of Cebu and city of Cebu announced a similar ban on travel. Curfew is being enforced (in Cebu) to minimize contact between people during this pandemic. But when news of the PNP and AFP would be patrolling the borders of Metro Manila, the activists of UP (students and graduates) went crazy online calling it a de facto martial law.

Just like that, friends of mine who couldn't see eye to eye on key political issues, against all odds, united in calling this conclusion crazy. And this is because the current COVID pandemic is NOT political. The virus doesn't care who you voted for or what your political leanings are. It doesn't care if you're rich or poor. It simply doesn't care. Meanwhile, we, as a society must act now doing whatever we can within our means now.

Bringing up the budget cut on the Department of Health is important for next election season. It's not important NOW. Calling for a medical solution instead of a military solution is not helpful NOW. Call for more testing kits to be made more readily available but don't fear monger and call mobilization of the AFP and PNP as a case where martial law is being enforced.

With our limited resources, mobilizing the AFP and PNP is crucial at stopping the disease from spreading further than it should. Metro Manila, which has notable land borders with neighboring provinces, needs to man said land borders. The police and the military are ready to be deployed. It's an imperfect solution but at this time, there is no such thing a perfect solution. Everyone needs to do their part and cooperate.

Whether or not you like this president, whether he's making the right calls or not, one thing is for certain, we need to cooperate with each other. Practically everyone is on board with the Metro Manila lockdown save the tiny noisy internet activists calling it a de facto martial law.

To the internet activists, stop your fear mongering. The province of Cebu is imposing something similar here. Curfew is being imposed as well. Everyone understands why this is being done. No one wants it but people understand it. Yet no one is calling out Governor Garcia or Mayor Labella for imposing a sort of martial law on the Cebuanos.

Let's all unite against this virus. It's been said a million times in the news and in company briefings but why not say it again? Wash your hands regularly. Practice social distancing including avoiding handshaking for the mean time. Don't go to the mall or other crowded areas unless absolutely necessary. Sanitize whenever possible especially after touching surfaces that have been touched by others like door handles, collection boxes in church, etc. And avoid touching your face. The last tip, usually forgotten by people can be summed up by, "Assume you're a carrier." This includes practicing proper cough etiquette and generally maintaining a healthy body.

Stay safe, everyone!

Why Fast and Abstain during Lent?

I had wondered why fasting and abstinence is required of Catholics during Lent. What does not eating meat (abstinence) or eating less food (fasting) do for our faith as Catholics? I always drew blanks and had to admit that I was only leaning on the wisdom of the Catholic hierarchy. Simply translated, I followed this practice through blind faith.

It didn't bother me so I didn't bother to question the practice. To outsiders, however, it is an odd practice. So after listening to the homily of the priest during Ash Wednesday, I came to a realization about the practice of fasting and abstinence. I'm sure there exists a more theologically grounded reason for these practices but as I'm not well versed in theology, I'll go by my own reasons.

Put simply, fasting and abstinence stresses to us the importance of the Creator above the creation. I've heard it said that sin (any sin) is when we put creation above the Creator. Adultery is when we put sex (creation) above the Creator. With theft, money is put first. When Catholics purposefully choose not to attend Sunday mass, they value their time (creation) above God. Time and time again, with any sin, it's always man putting more value onto a creation rather than God.

When we deny ourselves things that we like, it's a physical manifestation of us saying that our desires are only secondary or even tertiary to God who should be first in our lives. That said, simply abstaining for meat does very little to further the word of God. As a matter of personal practice, I only abstain if I'm able to save money from doing so. Said saved money then goes into the collection box or some other charity. So while I try to avoid meat on Fridays, I also try to avoid more expensive seafood dishes like sashimi, or lobsters, or shrimps as I believe these things defeat the idea of abstaining from eating meat.

When we fast and when we abstain this Lent, let's remember why we do it. It's us reminding ourselves that our desires do not rule over us. Our needs and wants do not control us. We are above these things and thus can choose to say no to these things. But we must always say yes to God, the Creator.

This is my short reflection on the matter and I hope to encourage more people to enjoy the fasting and the abstinence this Lenten season.

Are We Doing Better than Other Countries?

COVID-19 is still big news these days. The virus seems to be spreading more and more and the death toll is going up steadily. Up until last week, the Philippines had only 3 confirmed cases while other countries had more. Even countries with much better healthcare than us reported higher numbers of COVID cases. So a thought entered my mind, are we better at curbing this disease than other countries?

The short answer? No, I don't think so. Let's not go around celebrating our low case count as a victory. It's quite possible that the numbers didn't go up as the positive cases simply weren't caught by the system. This is why I think the prudent measures taken by some schools, and churches at this tie are very much warranted.

What I don't think is happening (as confirmed by a friend who works in the DOH) is that the government wants the numbers to be as low as possible and is artificially doing so. There is absolutely no upside to the DOH hiding these numbers from the public. A case in point for this is how the DOH has been constantly communicating with the hotels and resorts as to the whereabouts of certain foreigners who come from Daegu or Hong Kong or Wuhan. The DOH is doing everything in their power to try and curb this virus.

What the internet usually fail to see in these cases is that these cases are not data points - they are people. Take, for example, the case of the 26 Koreans who came to the Philippines from Daegu. These were not confirmed cases, neither were they PUIs. They did not come from Korea illegally (unlike some Chinese nationals) and they came in the Philippines BEFORE the travel ban took place. The DOH told the hotels and resorts to keep an eye on them but not to shun them away. In fact, shunning them away would be worse for everyone as then the DOH would have no idea where they are.

Another bit of news I see circulating are stories of people who ask to be tested for the coronavirus but shooed away. These story bits seem to support the idea that people in the government wish to have as few confirmed cases as possible but deliberately not testing people who may be infected. Statements like, "I work in the same building as the recent confirmed case" or "My friend stayed in the same building as this Korean from Daegu," seem to give these people a higher chance of being a PUI.

These are NOT things that make a person a PUI. In these times of panic and misinformation, a lot of people want to get tested for the coronavirus even if they have a simple cough. Hospitals don't wish to feed this hysteria by allowing anyone and everyone to get tested. And then there's the idea that these tests cost money. With limited money, hospitals can only administer tests to a limited number of people so of course they'll prioritize people who have travel history to places with higher number of cases than us.

Last of all, COVID-19, while it's practically on all the news outlets, is NOT more deadly than other viral diseases. The common flu has a higher mortality rate than COVID-19. We heard about the 3,000 people who died but we don't hear about the 42,000 who have recovered from it. It's not even stressed that most of the 3,000 who died were either of old age or those with compromised immune systems. I dare say, that we shouldn't be afraid of COVID-19. We should still take precautions against it but panic and hysteria will not help us in any way shape or form.

I take a page from my doctor friends. They seem very calm about this. It's probably naive since they've seen much worse cases and just because they're calm, doesn't mean it's nothing to worry about. but it gives me great comfort to simply not worry about this as much as the internet is collectively worrying about this. I'm no expert, but these people are. So I feel much better to just fall back on their assessment of the issue.