Frontliners

IT’S QUITE saddening that only during this crisis that we have learned and appreciated the word “frontliner.” This may not refer to pawns in a chess game or the enlisted combatants in a war who have to be at the forefront fighting.

The present frontliners that we are referring to are in a war with an unseen enemy that is taking the lives of thousands in many countries around the globe. The battle is far from over.

Doctors, nurses, other medical professionals and those other workers in medical institutions, soldiers, policemen, firemen, traffic law enforcers and barangay tanods as well and those in the uniformed service, employees of supermarkets, public markets, gasoline stations, those working at utilities, are now considered as frontliners who are doing their respective roles in the global fight against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

If we are to observe, they are the kind of workers who are still attending to their duties and responsibilities while majority of the citizenry are staying at the comfort of their homes. The prevailing nationwide lockdown has established the demarcation line between those who have to work and those who have to stay at their dwellings.

There were casualties among the frontliners. Even doctors who were exposed to the virus were made dead heroes. While they are fighting to save the lives of others, they are at the front risking their lives for us.

Law enforcement authorities have to stay on streets and highways 24/7 implementing quarantine measures and monitoring the passage of people who are possible carriers of the virus. Braving the heat and sacrificing their sleep, these people deserve much appreciation too.

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A couple of days ago, the Department of Health is looking for volunteer doctors and nurses for the Covid-19 referral hospitals. The call may not be heeded to this day since no one in his right mind would want to expose his life to danger as a mere volunteer. Why not the government pay for these professionals?

The national government has allocated some funds in the war against the virus. Why not hire such medical professionals instead of looking for mere volunteers who will attend to Covid-19 cases?

In other countries like Canada, nurses are offered high compensation for those who are willing to be hired to attend to Covid-19 patients. “Sana all” said my friend nurse who also said that nurses in the country are very well exploited especially in these trying times.

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I saw a video of Vice President Leni Robredo asking the public how frontliners are taken care of. She was asking how their transportation would be handled as they travel from their homes to their workplaces. She was asking too how the government would address all the problems brought about by the Covid-19.

Robredo’s memory might have been infected too with the virus as she might have forgotten that she is holding the second highest position in the government. As the Vice President of the republic, she is a part of the government.

Instead of asking for solutions from the government, she should do her role as a part of the government she represents. She should herself, provide for answers too. The said video earned ridicules and negative comments.

It can be observed that the video is not an actual sincere call for answers to the predicaments of frontliners but is a tirade against what the national government headed by President Rodrigo Duterte is doing to solve the current virus problem. “Hindi siya isang panawagan kundi isang patama sa kasalukuyang administration”, quipped a netizen.

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