Week 1 of modified coronavirus quarantine
THE time has come for “modiM fied coronavirus quarantine.” Whatever that means, implying a better state of affairs; but from what I have seen, it is not.
Public transportation is in chaM os. If people were expected, were eager or were awaited to return to work, they had to pass an ordeal of long waits. Some never made it, others like the elderly were denied use of public transport despite its social or physical distancing preM cautions. What is the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, or IATF- EID, thinking? ForbidM ding the elderly from going out, confining them to cramped spaces creates infection paradise. While elders are more vulnerable, they must not be punished for their vulnerability. The story of the 67-year-old woman who had an urgent errand to run is a case in point. She could not find a bus or public transport vehicle to get to her destination. So, she walked approximately a kilometer to the nearest LRT station and climbed the three flights of stairs (Why are there no escalators?) only to be deM nied entry because of her age. She was healthy enough to undertake the walking and climbing but the incomprehensible rule of treating seniors like underage children is an affliction not needed on top of the pandemic affliction.
Another unthought- through idea that has been suddenly and precipitately implemented is the Balik Probinsiya, Bagong Pag-asa (BP2) Program. It entices provinM cial folk marginalized in the city to go back where they came from by providing them free transportaM tion, meals, and an allowance until they are dumped into the arms of the local governments where they came from. The local governments are not prepared. Sometimes they are not even consulted or notified. There are no jobs there to speak of, no prospects of a livelihood with the pittance of a one-time allowance given. The result will be an exercise in futility. Those Balik Probinsiya people will come back to the big city to look for jobs. The National Economic Development Authority has just pronounced and, they should know better than the Balik Probinsiya people, that rural areas here are in deep poverty, deprivation and total absence of livelihood opportunities not to say adequate government services. BP2 may be a good idea for decongesM tion of urban areas but those runM ning it should do their homework first. Develop opportunities in rural areas, spend the time and the investments needed there before hauling people from urban areas and dumping them in what are virtual wastelands. Better yet, take a survey of what happened to the people they just brought back to their provinces and see how they are doing. That should give them an idea of what is needed.
As though the pandemic was not enough to meet head-on, why is there a sudden need for an antiterrorist bill that seems to be ab initio in violation of the ConstituM tion regarding human rights, the role of the judiciary (marginalized and taken over by the executive department)? From what has been observed so far in this adM ministration, there is a propensity to use the law to punish without trial, particularly political oppoM nents. The case of Sen. Leila de Lima cries out to high heaven. Not only in solitary confinement withM out a trial, charged with what by general consensus are trumped-up charges from polluted sources, she has been put further in isolation, deprived of any contact with anyM one, including family and her Senate office staff, using the the excuse of the pandemic. She is an elected senator of this country, but she is a political opponent of the powers-that-be. This is how they get back at their opponents.
Sorry, but things are not going well outside our quarantine. I could conveniently forget that and not be in aggravation. I can just be happy that the rosal bushes have bloomed in plentiful numbers in my garden after the onset of afterM noon rains. Rosal, or gardenia as it is known elsewhere, is my favorite flower, white, velvety and fragrant. It was the flower I chose for my wedding bouquet many moons ago in Massachusetts. Come to think of it, my wedding anniversary was yesterday but the groom has long since gone to his reward. He will be forever missed. I am still here in a pandemic quarantine bothered by the steps of shortsightedness, misgovernance and persecution that I see around me. Time for governM ment officials to think better, act better and get better results.