The bad and good news!

It’s been said that good news is not news. But the news that 900 senior citizens, 60 years old and above, in Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City were vaccinated is certainly good news. On Monday, senior citizens from Barangays Mambaling and Mabolo, Cebu City, had their dose of Covid-19 vaccine in two sites. But the news that the woman who complained against the policemen in Sawang Calero Police Station for robbery and rape was shot dead by a riding-in-tandem on Monday night is without doubt bad news.

The inoculation of the frontliners and, now the senior citizens in Cebu City, could be the step toward reducing infections with strict laws and public compliance with minimum health and safety protocols. This is good news for Cebu City. I wish the residents continue the discipline to slow down if not stop the virus spread.

The Covid-19 Case Bulletin of the Department of Health (DOH) 7 showed as of April 19, the active cases in Cebu City was reduced to 892 from 984 on April 18. Lapu-Lapu City has 824 active cases from 833, Mandaue City has 554 from 579 and the Province of Cebu dropped to 1,002 from 1,155. The meteoric surge of the Covid-19 infection two months ago should serve as lesson for us not to be complacent.

The IATF Visayas, led by retired Army Maj. Gen. Mel Feliciano, and his local counterparts deserve praise for keeping the infection rate down despite reports of new variants. We also deserve a pat in the back for supporting the local government, the DOH and IATF. The National Capital Region, Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces should emulate how we did it.

Yesterday, senior citizens from Barangays Kinsang-an, Basak-Pardo, Banilad and Talamban, Cebu City were vaccinated. But prior to their vaccination, there was a question on whether the basis of DOH or Cebu City Health Department (CHD) in its listing is the place of residence or the voting residence of the senior citizens. I made the same query in my previous column and in social media, to no avail.

I read somewhere that DOH 7 has an online registration for senior citizens who want to be vaccinated. Unfortunately, for me, I don’t know where to find that DOH online registration portal, For the past days and weeks, I did not notice that someone from the barangay office or the CHD knocked on our door to enlist us for the vaccination.

Meanwhile, it’s bad news that Ritchie Nepomuceno, 35, the complainant against the 10 policemen assigned in Sawang Calero, was killed. It will be unfair, though, to suspect the 10 suspended cops who are facing robbery and rape complaints, to be responsible for Nepomuceno’s shooting, too. Reports have it that Nepomuceno died after she was shot in the head by the riding-in-tandem assailants. But believe me, suspicions could not be avoided since the criminal cases against these cops would not prosper since Nepomuceno is dead.

The police investigators should not leave any stone unturned in determining the murderer of Nepomuceno in order to free the 10 cops from any suspicion on Nepomuceno’s death.

I read somewhere that DOH 7 has an online registration for senior citizens who want to be vaccinated. Unfortunately, for me, I don’t know where to find that DOH online registration portal.