‘Second wave’ lashes across the American heartland

“Without equity, pandemic battles will fail. Viruses will simply recirculate, and perhaps undergo mutations or changes that render vaccines useless, passing through the unprotected populations of the planet.”

—Laurie Garrett

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THE feared “second wave” of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have beckoned in the United States in the so-called “flu season” of fall.

On October 23, the United States set a daily record of over 85,000 new cases even as hospitalizations were up 40 percent, reports obtained from multiple sources, including the New York Times, said.

According to a report from the New York Times, “deaths are creeping up in several states and Poland has come close to a national lockdown.”

The latest coronavirus surge was raging across the American heartland, most acutely in the Midwest and Mountain West.

This harrowing third surge, which led to a U.S. single-day record of more than 85,000 new cases Friday, is happening less than two weeks from Election Day, which will mark the end of a campaign dominated by the pandemic and President Trump’s much-criticized response to it.

NYT said as of Friday evening, 15 states have added more cases in the past week than in any other seven-day stretch of the pandemic: Wisconsin, a battleground in the presidential election, Colorado, Kentucky, Illinois, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, South Dakota, Montana, Arkansas, Alaska, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana and North Dakota. 

And four states have added more deaths this week than in previous weeks: Wisconsin, Kentucky, South Dakota and Oklahoma.

 

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North Dakota leads the nation in coronavirus cases per capita. Illinois is averaging more than 4,100 new cases per day, up 85 percent from the average two weeks ago. 

And Pennsylvania, another battleground state, on Friday reported a record of 2,258 cases, according to the NYT.

The virus will reportedly be front of mind for voters in several key states: in Ohio, where more people are hospitalized than at any other time during the pandemic, and especially Wisconsin, home to seven of the country’s 10 metro areas with the highest numbers of recent cases. On Friday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court blocked Gov. Tony Evers’ emergency order restricting the size of indoor gatherings to 25 percent capacity on Friday.

Experts reportedly worry that the growing numbers in need of hospital care will only get worse if cases continue to mount, especially in rural areas where medical facilities could be quickly overwhelmed.

Citing a rise in hospitalizations across the state, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced a strengthening of coronavirus restrictions in certain counties, capping gatherings at 10 people from no more than two separate households. For the third straight day, Colorado announced a new single-day cases record on Friday.

 

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Here are other developments, as reported by the NYT:

—Overnight, nearly 2,500 people were hospitalized in Illinois, the state’s top public health official, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, said in a news conference Friday afternoon. The mayor of Chicago, Lori E. Lightfoot, announced a curfew on nonessential businesses beginning at 10 p.m. on Friday.

—In the latest presidential debate on Thursday night, President Trump asserted that the virus was “going away” as he defended his management of the pandemic. Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic nominee, attacked Mr. Trump’s handling, calling for much more aggressive federal action for the “dark winter” ahead.

—President Trump and many supporters blame restrictions on business activity, often imposed by Democratic governors and mayors, for prolonging the economic crisis initially caused by the virus. 

But the experience of states like Iowa, which recently set a record for patients hospitalized with Covid-19, shows the economy is far from back to normal even in Republican-led states that have imposed few business restrictions.

—Iowa was one of only a handful of states that never imposed a full stay-at-home order. 

—Restaurants, movie theaters, hair salons and bars were allowed to reopen starting in May, earlier than in most states. 

—Many businesses worry they won’t be able to make it through the winter without more help from Congress. Others have already failed.

—Defying the guidance of infectious disease experts, who say that universal masking and social distancing are essential to limiting the virus’s spread, has eroded support for both Mr. Trump and Gov. Kim Reynolds in Iowa, especially among voters over 65, normally a solid Republican constituency, according to public and private polls. Mr. Trump and Senator Joni Ernst—whose seat could play a decisive role in determining control of the Senate—are both in tight races in a state that the president easily won four years ago.

—Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases, again stressed the importance of wearing masks, socially distancing, avoiding crowds and regular hand washing Friday evening in an appearance on CNN.

“It’s not going to spontaneously turn around unless we do something about it,” he said, adding “I plead with the American public to please take these things seriously.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)

 

 

 

Don’t be a Rapert and Gohmert

“Disobedience is essentially a prideful power struggle against someone in authority over us. It can be a parent, a priesthood leader, a teacher, or ultimately God. A proud person hates the fact that someone is above him. He thinks this lowers his position.”

—Ezra Taft Benson

By Alex P. Vidal

EXCEPT for my two housemates, almost all New Yorkers I met in the streets everyday have been consistently wearing the masks.

Their obedience and discipline have helped New York State quickly overcome the ugly reputation as the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epicenter of the world in March, April, and May 2020.  

Like them, I will never question the authority of health experts who adhere to the scientific evidence that the only way to stop the spread of coronavirus is to wear a mask in public.

As long as there is a pandemic, I will continue to cooperate and abide by the guidelines, the rules and regulations on the mandatory wearing of a mask in public places.

I am aware that we are being asked to wear a mask because there is a pandemic, not because of anything else.

I am not a tig-a ulo (hard-headed) like some defiant characters we know here, there, and everywhere.

We are not being coerced to do the bidding of authoritarian rulers.

This is about a public health issue, the safety of everyone as the COVID-19 attempts to decimate a big bulk of the world population—unless a vaccine will be discovered soon and stop the virus in its track.

Plain and simple common sense and showing that we belong.

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But my two housemates, an elderly woman and a young man, both firm believers of conspiracy theory, have refused to wear a mask. 

As they rejected the opinion of health experts that it is almost 100 percent sure the coronavirus won’t transfer from another person if we wear a mask, they went ballistic even before being reprimanded by people in the streets who think they exhibited a tinge of arrogance and recalcitrant behavior.

They love President Donald Trump so much and because the president does not wear a mask, it bolsters their belief that the COVID-19 is a hoax.

That the COVID-19 “drama” is being used as a political weapon by the Democrats to destroy Republican President Trump, who is seeking a reelection in November against presumptive Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joseph Biden.

They went to the extent of arguing, using an absurd assertion, that the COVID-19 was “intentionally” created “on instructions of former President Barrack Obama.” Tra la la.

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We caution them not to suffer the fates of Arkansas Republican Governor Jason Rapert and Texas Republican Rep.  Louie Gohmert, two hardline anti-mask wearing Republic politicians who have been strongly advocating against the mandatory use of mask in public.

Refusing to wear a mask while walking through the halls of Congress and attending high-profile hearings with members of the White House administration, Gohmert reportedly tested positive for Covid-19.

Gohmert just attended a congressional hearing with Attorney General William Barr on July 28, reportedly tested positive for the novel coronavirus while being screened during a White House procedure on July 29 morning.

Rapert, who unsuccessfully introduced a bill to ban gay marriage in the US in 2017, was hospitalized with coronavirus and pneumonia on July 24.

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As many states were beginning to take social distancing measures to attempt to control the spread of the virus, Rapert shared an article on Facebook that called the pandemic the “biggest political hoax in history”.

He has been critical of policies taken to stop the spread of Covid-19 in various social media posts over the last few months and was filmed last week not wearing a face mask at a church service, according to Raw Story.

Meanwhile, for taking off their masks, House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler scolded Republicans at the hearing—an issue that has sowed controversy on Capitol Hill, with several members of the GOP refusing to wear face coverings while on the job.

A growing list of Republican lawmakers have meanwhile tested positive for Covid-19, including Tennessee Senator Rand Paul, South Carolina Rep. Tom Rice, Florida Rep Mario Diaz Balart and several others.

Damu gid man tig- a ulo.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Is it safe to come to NY now?

“I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad.”

—George Bernard Shaw

By Alex P. Vidal

A FRIEND “stranded” in the Philippines because of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, called me via Messenger on July 12 to inquire if it is now safe to go back to New York.

He was supposed to fly back in April, but flights had been cancelled when airports around the world were forced to suspend operations during that period to prevent the spread of coronavirus.  

I told him the truth: No yet. No way.

No one is in the mood nowadays to welcome anybody now that everyone is worried about the coronavirus infection.

No one wants to prioritize traveling from airport to airport, what with so many dizzying restrictions and quarantine rules and regulations.

“Assuming that flights are now back to normal or even if you have a scheduled flight and, thus, allowed to fly, still you will have to undergo a harrowing experience before leaving the Philippines and upon arriving in the US,” I explained.

It’s not wise to travel internationally at this time. 

Forget it—unless you’re a health worker or a diplomat. 

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Although our situation in the East Coast has been “improving” (we were the pandemic epicenter in March and April), the situation in the Southern and Western parts of the United States is now worsening, according to latest reports.

Having experienced the world’s biggest and deadliest coronavirus outbreak, the New York State remains behind most other states in coming out of lockdown, but its reopening is firmly underway.

As of July 14, nine of New York’s 10 regions are in the fourth and theoretically final phase of a four-phase reopening process following the statewide coronavirus lockdown.

The Big Apple is the only region still in phase three.

The U.S. has now confirmed more than 3.6 million COVID-19 cases and 139,921 related deaths, according to Worldometer, which is tracking COID-19 statistics. 

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Over the July 11-12 weekend, the U.S. recorded more than 100,000 new cases, The New York Times reported.

More than 13.65 million cases and 585,536 related deaths have been reported worldwide.

The seven-day average daily deaths across the U.S. reportedly reached 700 on July 11, up from 471 on July 5.

Though high, it's still hasn't skyrocketed to peak numbers in April, when the U.S. was reporting 2,200 deaths on average every day. 

Eight states reportedly logged single-day record deaths, including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Tennessee, over the past week. 

Texas logged a state record of 119 deaths related to COVID-19 on July 8.

Back here in New York, regions are to reopen in four phases, prioritizing industries that pose the lowest risk of infection for employees and customers. 

The details of each phase are not necessarily set in stone, either, as the state has already made adjustments to the original guidelines, like adding outdoor dining to phase two.

The plan was originally for state and regional officials to evaluate the outcomes of the reopening phases over two-week periods and decide whether the region can move onto the next one, but each phase will not necessarily last only two weeks.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Air of hopelessness

“A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.”

—Elbert Hubbard

By Alex P. Vidal

SOME people are getting impatient and there seems to be an air of hopelessness hovering in many parts of the Philippines now that the situation appears to be “not getting better” in as far as the COVID-19 pandemic is concerned.

Instead of seeing the decline of COVID-19 cases after the second quarter of 2020, there seems to be no stopping the pandemic from further bringing sufferings and sadness to the people.

It seems COVID-19 will stay as long as it is still 2020.

The bad thing is there is no assurance it will be fully contained by 2021, not until the vaccine has been discovered and mass-produced quickly.  

We are now entering the third quarter and COVID-19 cases continue to rise instead of going down.

And the trending is worldwide with the United States still leading the pack with nearly 3 million cases and nearly 150,000 deaths.

Hospitals’ critical care capacity in the Philippines is near the “danger zone” at 70 percent, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

Several hospitals in the country have already reportedly stopped accepting patients with coronavirus disease.   

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We are glad that here in New York, which used to be the epicenter since March, “things are improving” and the state is now going to be held up as the model for the rest of the United States because of its “remarkable road to recovery”.

New York was hit first, while the virus and how to treat it were still poorly understood, and New York City is an international travel hub with densely packed neighborhoods and a heavily trafficked public-transit system. 

It got hammered.

The outbreaks in other parts of the US aren’t anything like what happened in New York, at least not yet. 

What others states, notably Florida, Arizona, Texas and California are trying to do is avoid New York’s fate, even as they are lectured about the superiority of the Empire State’s approach.

The positivity rate—the percentage of tests coming back positive—has increased in all of these places, and in Arizona has reportedly gone above 20 percent. 

The seven-day moving average for the positivity rate reached an astronomical 50 percent during the worst of the outbreak in New York.

Deaths are also reportedly going up in all these states, but the scale so far is completely different from what New York experienced. 

About 32,500 people have died in New York.

About 4,300 people have died in Florida, a state of comparable population. 

In Texas and California, both bigger states, about 3,300 and 7,000 people have died.

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Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced July 14 the actions taken in its ongoing response effort to the COVID-19 pandemic.

FDA scientists have identified specific areas of the so-called spike proteins on the surface of the COVID-19-causing virus that appear to be key to triggering strong protective antibody responses in rabbits exposed to the virus. 

The virus uses one part of the spike protein to attach to a cell and another to fuse with the cell membrane, enabling the virus to infect the cell. 

The scientists studied antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins, which could help inform vaccine design by increasing our understanding of the various triggered antibody responses.

As of mid-June, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than eight million cases of infection and approximately 450,000 deaths globally, making the development of safe and effective vaccines to prevent this disease a priority. 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Can we bring America to the Philippines?

“It is an eternal obligation toward the human being not to let him suffer from hunger when one has a chance of coming to his assistance.”

—Simone Weil

By Alex P. Vidal

BECAUSE of the Internet, we can monitor what is happening in the Philippines and in other parts of the globe on a regular basis even if we’re now living in a faraway place.

We are very much aware that our kababayans, our fellow Ilonggos, are among the hardest hit and now wallowing in abject economic difficulties as a result of the COVID-19 mayhem.

It’s also disheartening to learn that some public utility drivers had been arrested and jailed for begging in the streets.

Since this is a worldwide pandemic, our imagination conjures up a mirror or events that illuminate a similar scenario in other places with coronavirus commotion.   

Including the United States.

Like the Filipinos and other nationalities, many Americans also lost their employment and livelihood, aside from registering a staggering number of cases and deaths, especially in New York.

They also suffered enormously from appalling economic conditions as a result of COVID-19 lockdown, and their emotional and mental anguish sometimes has led to suicide and nervous breakdown.

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The only difference is the Americans aren’t poor.

Their grief and melancholy is short-lived. Their depression is temporary—and gone as soon as Uncle Sam flexes his muscles and come to his children’s succor.

America is so vast and its resources—food and otherwise—are  abundant they can take care of its 350 million population in any circumstance.

They can quickly rebound from the pit of desolation and despondency and move on to the next chapter of their lives without the need to curse the government.

The federal government’s stimulus checks, passed through a bipartisan legislation, were readily available as soon as the law that created it took effect. 

No red tape and corruption. No politics involved. 

Emergency food supply and other social assistance in kind and in cash are accessible and always available.   

Unlike in the Philippines. 

Even the opportunity for many Filipinos to work again in many essential jobs had been forestalled.

No work means no income and no sufficient food on the table and in the stockroom.   

Some jobs disappeared after only three months since the quarantine or lockdown took effect. 

We furthered learned that many construction workers who, after completing the lockdown in La Paz, Jaro, Arevalo, Mandurriao, and the City Proper, have been given termination notices “for lack of budget” even before they could resume their work. 

Employment opportunities or the chance to hack out a “boundary” for those in the transportation sector were reportedly scarce during the initial lifting of lockdown.

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Because the government social amelioration funds are not enough, many Filipino households can hardly prepare a budget meal even for a small family.

There’s also an uptick of cases on violence against women and children even as nasty altercations had sparked between suspicious residents and defensive village officials.  

To complete the somber situation, a flustered President Rodrigo Roa Duterte whined about the deficit of stimulus money (where to get the next trance is his biggest headache).

The president had also decried some sneaky village officials who made a pile from the social amelioration program (SAP) intended for the poor residents. Heads were nonetheless expected to roll as proper charges have been readied.

If only the Philippines is a state of America, the Filipinos can also avail of the head-turning stimulus check worth $1,200 each, plus the pandemic unemployment fund of $600 a week.

The next coronavirus stimulus package in the United States could see Americans receive as much as $4,000 as part of a tax-credit scheme aimed at boosting tourism in the country, it was reported.

No need anymore for the elderly drivers to beg in the streets and be arrested and jailed like ordinary criminals. 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

  

‘Phase I’ unwraps

“A strong economy begins with a strong, well-educated workforce.”
—Bill Owens

By Alex P. Vidal

I WENT out Monday (June 8) afternoon to experience life in New York City during the much-awaited Phase 1 of “reopening of economy” and my first “activity” was to walk straight to the nearest post office in Elmhurst, Queens to mail an important document to Albany.
There was a long line and we continued to strictly observe the rules on distancing and wearing of a mask in public. 
On my way to Roosevelt Avenue, I made a brief stop in front of the Elmhurst Hospital and saw half of the tents built to accommodate a horde of COVID-19 patients in the critical month of March already taken down. 
We are still officially in the springtime and summer solstice 2020 in the Northern Hemisphere will start on June 20, but humidity can now be felt here in the east coast.
It was in early May when New York Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed that businesses across the empire state would reopen in four phases. He divided New York into 10 regions and created seven metrics that would determine when a region could begin the process. 
New York City has finally entered phase one, while all other regions will be in phase two by the end of this week. 
It’s expected that in the Big Apple, between 200,000 and 400,000 people will return to work starting June 8.

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Dana Schulz of 6sqft has put together a guide that breaks down what exactly is being monitored to determine reopening, what businesses are allowed to reopen in each phase, and other important info like transportation and testing, to help make the transition a bit easier.
The governor first enacted the New York PAUSE order on March 22. 
The first regions to begin reopening did so when it expired on May 15. The seven points that a region had to meet to begin to reopen will be monitored throughout the process to determine if they can proceed to the next phase or if measures need to be tightened. 
This is all being tracked daily in the State’s Regional Monitoring Dashboard. There are 10 “regional control rooms,” command centers of sorts where government, academic, and healthcare professionals are monitoring these metrics in real-time. The seven metrics are as follows:
1. 14-day decline in hospitalizations OR under 15 new hospitalizations (3-day average)
2. 14-day decline in hospitalized deaths OR under 5 new (3-day average)
3. New hospitalizations — under 2 per 100,000 residents (3-day rolling average)
4. Share of total beds available (threshold of 30%)
5. Share of ICU beds available (threshold of 30%)
6. 30 per 1,000 residents tested monthly (7-day average of new tests per day)
7. 30 contact tracers per 100,000 residents or to meet current infection rate.

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Here’s what’s allowed to reopen in each phase:
Phase one: 
1. Construction, more than 33,000 construction sites became operational; masks were to be provided by the employer and worn within six feet of another worker; and no congregate meetings.
2. Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
3. Retail Trade (delivery, curbside, and in-store pickup service only)
Employees and purchasers must wear masks; gloves are preferred
Hand sanitizer must be available
For in-store pickup where curbside is not an option: pre-arranged orders only, no browsing, social distancing required
4. Manufacturing
5. Landscaping
Phase two:
1. Offices—Professional services, nonprofit, technology, administrative support
2. higher education administration (excluding full campus reopening)
3. Real estate—residential property management entities, real estate salespeople/brokers, building inspectors, building appraisers
4. Commercial Building Management
5. In-store non-essential and essential retail businesses
6. Outdoor dining
7. Vehicle sales, leases, and rental activities
8. Retail rental, repair, and cleaning activities
9. Hair salons and barbershops
10. Places of Worship with 25-percent occupancy
Phase three:
1. Restaurants and food services
2. Hotels and accommodations (including amenity spaces and dining)
Phase four:
1. Arts and entertainment—Museums, Performance venues, Broadway
2. Recreation
3. Education
Regardless of phases, beginning June 26, the state will allow outdoor, socially distanced graduations of up to 150 people.
The New York City subway resumed regular service June 8, with the exception of overnight service, as the system will remain closed each day between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. for nightly disinfection. 
Governor Cuomo has announced that the state would be sending more than one million masks and 25,000 gallons and 500,000 2 oz. bottles of sanitizer to the MTA. Some of what the MTA has put in place for reopening includes: A requirement that all riders and workers wear masks; hand sanitizer dispensers at several stations, which are activated by a foot pedal, floor markings for social distancing on platforms; additional platform controllers, MTA Police, and other station personnel to monitor conditions and assist with crowding.
Subway and bus service remains for essential workers and essential trips.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Life is still good in America

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche

By Alex P. Vidal

THE twin tragedies that walloped the Americans in the jugular veins in the first two quarters of 2020 should have been enough for some foreign-born residents like me to fold like a tin can mentally and emotionally.
But my motto remains to be: “Aunt Liberty (referring to the Statue of Liberty), walang iwanan. I’m here to stay.”
While battling the coronavirus’ gut-wrenching lockdown and quarantine since March, and the ongoing George Floyd-whipped lunacy in the street, most of us have refused to call it a night in as far as pursuing and living the American Dream is concerned.
Life is still good in America, we mutter silently.
Although a pandemic, we figure COVID-19, like a nightmare, will eventually retreat and vanish like a smoke in the wind so we can reevaluate and restructure our lives again as normal human beings.
Even if the now escalating street violence threatens to further cripple the chances of some of us to go back to employment soon when the Phase I of reopening of the New York economy beckons, we think authorities are still on top of the situation and will soon restore peace and order to its unmolested glory without a need to choke more protesters to death ala George Floyd.
We can walk down Manhattan’s glitzy thoroughfares again soon without fear of being mugged and blasted in the head by a flying bottle of urine thrown by “I can’t breathe”-chanting protesters and rubber bullets fired by overstressed and tormented cops.

-o0o-

As of this writing, I haven’t monitored an incident in the ongoing acts of violence, looting, and vandalism where a Filipino was involved or injured.
Safety from possible infection of the treacherous COVID-19 remains to be the priority of most of us, thus we are adamant to go out and use the riots as a prop if we wish to impress friends and families in the Philippines and other countries in the social media.   
Members of the Filipino family, as well as other Asian communities, avoid, if they can, the areas where violent showdowns and dispersals involving protesters and police are taking places. 
Better to be safe than be an uzizero and sorry. 
No Pinoy would dare march to where the action is unfolding and use the chaos and turbulence as a background for a “selfie” or “live” Tiktok session.
In TV and other news platforms, it seems like America is burning—chaos and loud exchange of shouts and angry condemnation of what happened to Floyd dominate the surroundings.
But in our apartments, where we have been holed up since March when the lockdown started, we are safe and optimistic that there will be light at the end of the tunnel. 
America is still great.

-o0o-

Here are some of the reasons why many people from any part of the world still prefer to live in America—with or without COVID-19 and with or without racial-instigated riots. 
They may be humorous and self-serving, but they are the most convenient “excuses” if we invoke “good and quality life”: weather; beautiful and spacious houses; amazing food; small towns; optimistic attitude; higher incomes and great work opportunities; English is spoken everywhere; living in a movie location.
Sarah Gustafson wrote in 2016 about a Reddit user who started a thread asking, “Immigrants to America: What was the most pleasant surprise?”
It has since had hundreds of comments, with contributions coming in from both longtime Americans and new residents, Gustafson said.
“A few days ago, Jim Pethokoukis wrote here on AEIdeas about Gallup data showing Americans seem both miserable, and yet increasingly satisfied with their standard of living,” Gustafson explained. 
“The website Knowable.com highlighted 25 of the many replies to the Reddit thread, but in the spirit of appreciating the USA and putting our possible misery in proper context, we’ve picked some of our own highlights below.”
-Free public restrooms and how every establishment has air conditioning.
-Clean streets, good luck finding a trash can in Pakistan.
-Rose petals dropped by helicopters fall around the Statue of Liberty in New York June 6, 2014. The event was organized by the organization "The French Will Never Forget" to mark the 70th anniversary of World War Two's D-Day landings.
-Fireflies… I honestly thought they were mythical, like fairies, until I saw one for the first time in Virginia.
-Showers and running hot water. I was born in the Philippines. Not having to fill buckets with water and boiling some over a stove top was such a big surprise for me.
-Buildings and bridges are so .. .amazing, the infrastructure is good, it makes you thing “wow, mankind DID THIS!”
-Small talks. I really didn’t expect people to just strike up a conversation with someone they’ve never met before.
-People telling me I must be American based solely on my English skills and disregarding my ethnicity feels weird. I like it.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)






   

Leave the sex workers alone

“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

By Alex P. Vidal

IT’S a silly argument that a city hall task force has focused on running after sex workers in Iloilo City after it received reports “they were demanding for food instead of cash” in exchange of sexual services amid the COVID-19 quarantine measures.

Money is hard to find nowadays because of the extended lockdown but not food.

Food is always available and can be bought in any public market and grocery store as long as there is money.

Our agriculture and factories can still produce abundance of food. 

We aren’t yet experiencing a famine or extreme scarcity of food. 

Our problem is the pandemic, a coronavirus that has spread worldwide and killed more than 340,000 and infected more than five million people.

No prostituted woman in her right mind will demand a food for her body, at least not in a highly urbanized metropolis like Iloilo City.

Prostitution is always synonymous with money. No money no honey. 

Some women resort to the oldest profession on earth because they want a quick cash, not instant noodles or hotdogs and hamburgers.

Granting for the sake of discussion there are sex workers who want only food for their services, is this a valid reason for authorities to prioritize their arrest and incarceration while the coronavirus threatens to decimate the human race?

Whether they demand food or money as a mode of payment for a sexual transaction, prostitution is still illegal and wrong morally and spiritually.

-o0o-

WHO are “V” and “E” or the couple exposed by Iloilo first district Rep. Janette Loreto-Garin in her recent privilege speech as being involved in the overpriced COVID-19 test kits charged to PhilHealth? 

Instead of charging only P800 for each RT-PCR test kit, suppliers V and E made a killing at the expense of the people by charging P8,150, according to the lady solon who served as health secretary during the administration of President Noynoy Aquino. 

The unnamed suppliers must be well-connected in the Duterte administration the reason why they were able to corner the rich deal.

This is probably the same reason why Rep. Loreto-Garin was adamant to reveal their true identities for fear they might get back at her.

Or the former health secretary was only apparently trying to hold her punches and reserve her bullets just in case the President will not lend his ears to the “expose.”     

Unravelling the true identities of the COVID-19 test kits “scammers” would have been perfect during a privilege speech. 

-o0o-

But if President Duterte is determined to minimize if not totally stop graft and corruption in his administration, he will press the Leyte-born congresswoman from Guimbal, Iloilo to spell out the letters V and E so that the President can begin cutting off their tentacles to pieces.

The President would be obliged to initiate drastic measures once the media started revealing the “scammer’s” names based on damning pieces of evidence to be provided by the feisty congresswoman.

Failure on her part to name names would render her “expose” inutile and become an exercise in futility.

Failure on her part to go beyond the initials will embolden the people to think she wasn’t serious in her crusade to cripple the anomalies involving the COVID-19 test kits.

Of course we believe she is sincere and has no ulterior motive other than to correct the wrong hounding the government efforts to arrest the growing number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the country.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

     

  

  

Lockdown and our mental health

“We know how to treat depression, we know how to treat mental illness, and we have not had the political will in our country to make it happen.”
—Rosalynn Carter

By Alex P. Vidal

WE have been hearing a lot of complaints about “gutom” (nothing to eat) and “pigado na gid” (life is so hard) as a result of the months-long lockdown and the coronavirus-instigated enhanced social distancing from residents who believed the government’s social amelioration program (SAP) response wasn’t enough to sustain their day to day survival.
In a pandemic, SAP or any form of assistance from any Good Samaritan is viewed heavily as equivalent to a band aid, not surgery.  
These are valid assertions especially that some people haven’t earned any income for nearly three months now while others have altogether lost their jobs.
While we are “all in this together” and hopeful things will normalize when the coronavirus pandemic is gone, empty stomachs and mounting bills can’t wait.
Creditors with low emotional quotients have joined the fray and added pressure to the psychological trauma and dwindling pockets.
These are some of the pandemic “side-events” that have been roiling down the country and nobody appears to have given them a serious attention.

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Since there is no timetable for the virus’ exit—if ever it will disappear soon—anxieties and frustrations grow in an alarming scale in many homes.
Even if the second tranche of SAP will arrive soon, it won’t guarantee that those in the economic skid row can immediately recuperate from wobbly legs.
What if the COVID-19 will continue to wreak havoc until the “ber” months, or even until next year? 
What if the pandemic’s feared “second wave” will aggravate and empty the government’s coffer as forewarned by President Duterte?  
Sadness and depression continue to deepen and prolong.
As a result, many Filipinos, shellshocked by the pandemic’s onslaught, have suffered both from alarming emotional and mental anguishes, aside from financial difficulties.
We have heard of some exasperated income earners committing suicide and even killing their families, and couples separating. 
Domestic violence was reportedly on a rise but wasn’t given proper attention because the media and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have been preoccupied with reports about COVID-19, the disheartening troubles in the checkpoints, and the inequalities and injustices in the SAP distributions.

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Even in the mighty United States, mental-health experts are especially worried about the ongoing economic devastation. 
Research has reportedly established a strong link between economic upheaval and suicide and substance use. 
A study of the Great Recession that began in late 2007 found that for every percentage point increase in the unemployment rate, there was about a 1.6 percent increase in the suicide rate, according to a Washington Post report.
Nearly half of Americans report the coronavirus crisis is harming their mental health, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll. 
A federal emergency hotline for people in emotional distress registered a more than 1,000 percent increase in April compared with the same time last year, added the Washington Post. 
Last month, reports said, roughly 20,000 people texted the hotline, run by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Online therapy company Talkspace reported a 65 percent jump in clients since mid-February. 
Text messages and transcribed therapy sessions collected anonymously by the company reportedly show coronavirus-related anxiety dominating patients’ concerns.
“People are really afraid,” Talkspace co-founder and CEO Oren Frank said. The increasing demand for services, he said, follows almost exactly the geographic march of the virus across the United States. “What’s shocking to me is how little leaders are talking about this. There are no White House briefings about it. There is no plan.”
One in five adults in the U.S. reportedly endure the consequences of mental illness each year. Yet less than half receive treatment, federal statistics show. As suicide rates have fallen around the world, the rate in the United States has reportedly climbed every year since 1999, increasing 33 percent in the past two decades.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Stay-at-home extended and ‘Waiting for Godot’

“But that is not the question. Why are we here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in this immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come.”

—SAMUEL BECKETT

By Alex P. Vidal 

WITH our stay-at-home guidelines in New York (not necessarily in other states) extended anew until June 13, we will have more time to monitor the news overseas, read interesting books, and plan ahead our next productive activities when “life resumes” finally after June 13.  

One of the books, a popular play actually, that caught our interest was

Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, a play that demonstrates the value of listening to the silences in conversations and is somewhat relevant to what is happening in the world today when people have been “stranded” at home to escape the wrath of the COVID-19 pandemic.   

The play depicts the meaninglessness of life—with its repetitive plot, where nothing much happens. 

Voted “the most significant English language play of the 20th century”, Waiting for Godot is Beckett’s translation of his own original French version, En attendant Godot, and is subtitled (in English only), “a tragicomedy in two acts”.

Silence is a special place we must go to regularly. It is a grace that nurtures, heals, reveals, and renews. “No spiritual exercise is as good as that of silence,” counsels St. Seraphim of Sarov.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a servant of the poor, states that “God is the friend of silence. See how nature–trees, flowers, grass–grow in silence? The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life.” 

Silence animates compassion and sets in motion the service of others.

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“Silence stands outside the worlds of profit and utility. It cannot be exploited for profit; you cannot get anything out of it. It is ‘unproductive,’ therefore it is regarded as useless. Yet there is more help and healing in silence than in all useful things,” Max Picard puts it.

Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilk once counseled: “Our task is to listen to the news that is always arriving out of silence.”

According to the plot of Waiting for Godot, a pair of vagrant men, Vladimir and Estragon, diverted themselves while waiting for the arrival of a man named Godot (Beckett had denied that Godot was God saying “it is just implied in the text, but it’s not true.), whom they only know by reputation, on a vague pretense. 

They philosophize, sleep, argue, sing, exercise, swap hats, and consider suicide –anything “to hold the terrible silence at bay” to occupy the time.

Godot is not Beckett’s best play, but it is his most famous and probably his most entertaining, according to the Globe and Mail. “The degree to which the vaudevillian schtick—from falling pants to fart jokes—Vladimir and Estragon engage in to pass the time continues to amuse, in a time when vaudeville is long dead, is always a pleasant surprise. 

It is not what you’d call succinct, however. And Beckett’s poetry is best treated with a light touch; Dennehy’s performance as Pozzo—fierce, howling, beast-like—demonstrates how the words collapse if you hit them too hard,” writes The Globe and Mail’s J. Kelly Nestruck.

Frost’s Meditations reports that many ingenious theories have been advanced to provide satisfactory interpretations for the characters of Beckett’s play. Religious or mythical interpretations prevail. 

The two tramps Estragon (Gogo) and Vladimir (Didi) may be Everyman and his conscience. Gogo is less confident and at one moment is ready to hang himself. Vladimir is more hopeful, more even in temperament.

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“One thinks of the medieval debate between the body and the soul, between the intellectual and the nonrational in man. Certain of their speeches about Christ might substantiate the theory that they are the two crucified thieves. Pozzo would seem to be the evil master, the exploiter,” says Frost’s Meditations. “But perhaps he is Godot, or an evil incarnation of Godot. The most obvious interpretation of Godot is that he is God. As the name Pierrot comes from Pierre, so Godot may come from God. (One thinks also of the combination of God and Charlot, the name used by the French for Charlie Chaplin.)”

The play was often considered by philosophical and literary scholars to be part of the movement of the Theatre of the Absurd, a form of theatre which stemmed from the Absurdist philosophy of Albert Camus. 

Absurdism itself is a branch of the traditional assertions of existentialism, pioneered by Soren Kierkegaard, and posits that, while inherent meaning might very well exist in the universe, human beings are incapable of finding it due to some form of mental or philosophical limitation. 

Thus humanity is doomed to be faced with the Absurd, or the absolute absurdity of existence in lack of intrinsic purpose.

Kierkegaard had accused contemporary philosophy of wasting too much time on “essences,” the supposed underlying realities and universal laws of the world. 

Not only are such things dubious, focusing on them diverts attention from real problems, such as how we as individuals can make decisions.

Beckett summed up the absurdity of life in one of his most quotably bleak metaphors: “They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, and then it’s night once more.” 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)