A ‘bulldog of dictatorship’

“After all it really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic.”

—Margaret Chan

By Alex P. Vidal

THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) should refrain from using the Cybercrime Law (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, officially recorded as Republic Act No. 10175) to run after critics of the Duterte administration.

The law was created to address legal issues concerning online interactions and the Internet in the Philippines, not as a weapon to curtail the freedom of the press and expression.

Manuelito, a supporter of ousted Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, told us “I had to deactivate my Facebook accounts and create another account using a fictitious identity because I have been warned I could be arrested for cybercrime by the NBI which has been monitoring my anti-Duterte sentiments since last year.”

Based on what has been happening in the Philippines these past weeks, it’s not only Manuelito who should have the reason to worry nowadays. 

Running after critics and threatening them with arrest for “violation of cybercrime law” is alarming and dangerous.

If a powerful state agency can be used as a tool against those who voice out their sentiments against the government even without resorting to violence, it’s a portent of things to come for those who adhere to the basic and sacred principles of democracy while trying exercise their rights to seek redress for their legitimate grievances.

Has the NBI become a “bulldog of dictatorship”? Is what happening right now a prelude to Martial Law?

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IF the most powerful man in the world today believes that hydroxychloroquine, known for its brand name Plaquenil and used to prevent or treat malaria infections caused by mosquito bites, can possibly cure the novel coronavirus, can ordinary folks now also take the drug and trust it can protect them from being included in the statistics of those who have died of the COVID-19?

Is this “magic” drug available in the Philippines?

The Department of Health should say something about this issue especially now that the world is talking about it. 

The debate whether hydroxychloroquine can cure the coronavirus has been raging these past weeks but it was only when U.S. President Donald Trump announced May 18 he was taking daily doses of hydroxychloroquine that some people started to take the pill seriously in as far as its potential magic to cure the virus that has killed hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.  

President Trump and some of his followers have actually long touted hydroxychloroquine as a potential coronavirus cure even as medical experts and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration question its efficacy and warn of potentially harmful side effects.

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Mr. Trump declared at a meeting of restaurant executives he began taking the antimalarial drug after consulting the White House doctor, though stopped short of saying his physician had actually recommended the drug.

Mr. Trump confirmed: "A couple of weeks ago, I started taking it." 

The president had been taking it every day for a week and a half now, he later said.

The president’s admission immediately caused a furor among those who weren’t yet convinced of the drug’s effectiveness against the coronavirus  Even as they viewed it as a dramatic development in Mr. Trump's attempts to promote hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus, which began earlier in the outbreak and has been met with resistance from established medical professionals.

Mr. Trump has cast the drug as “safe” and suggested “coronavirus patients have little to lose by trying it” because the drug is prescribed to treat malaria and other conditions.

It was reported that at least one study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), has shown the drug does not work against COVID-19 and could cause heart problems. 

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It follows a study reportedly published in the New England Journal of Medicine that also showed the drug doesn't fight the virus.

The FDA and the National Institutes of Health have reportedly issued warnings about using the drug for coronavirus patients even before these reports were published.

The President admitted “he hadn't been exposed”, and that he started taking the drug because he had heard from frontline responders who sent him letters saying they were taking it preventatively.

Hydroxychloroquine, classified as an anti-malarial drug, and its sister drug chloroquine (Aralen) are under investigation for treatment of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease and Korean doctors have used these anti- malaria drugs to treat COVID-19 with some success, according to a paper filed with Elsevier in March 2020, but effectiveness is unproven.

In a CNN report, Navy Commodore Sean Conley, the President’s physician, alluded in a memo released May 18 night to Trump's personal valet testing positive two weeks ago for coronavirus. While Conley didn't say directly that Trump started taking hydroxychloroquine in response to the valet testing positive, the timing mentioned by Trump and the positive test match up.

"After numerous discussions, he and I had regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks," CNN quoted Conley writing, adding “that Mr. Trump has taken multiple tests for coronavirus—all negative—and remains symptom free.”

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

Most abused, harassed during the lockdown

“If you want that good feeling that comes from doing things for other folks then you have to pay for it in abuse and misunderstanding.”

—Zora Neale Hurston

By Alex P. Vidal

NOW that most areas in the country have been declared as under the general community quarantine (GCQ), it’s time for the Ilonggos and the Filipinos in general to rejuvenate, move on and leave behind the specter of the novel coronavirus with extreme caution.

Most of us can now slowly inch our way back to normal life and begin to restructure our mothballed jobs and productive activities but without throwing caution to the wind.

Health and safety measures should continue to be our main priorities even if our movements will now be unshackled albeit limited.

We can’t allow the pandemic to forever snatch away our enthusiasm to sustain and live the kind of life we basically aspire. 

Everything will come to pass, but we can’t subdue the novel coronavirus overnight and celebrate prematurely. 

There is still a need for us to do a little sacrifice and show that we belong in one community. 

There’s no shortcut to a total liberation. 

Everything must undergo a series of trials and failures, if necessary, before a full plateau or dream recovery from the pandemic nightmare is reached.

Nevertheless it should be the right time to shed away the psychological and emotional anxieties inflicted by that harrowing lockdown that temporarily separated us from the “real” world.

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The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army (PA) are the most overworked and harassed agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Like the public school teachers during the election day, the cops and military men were the favorite punching bags and scapegoats of just anyone wishing to violate the laws and guidelines on the quarantine and lockdown during the crisis.

Instead of being accused of bullying, the men and women in uniform were the ones who were bullied and ridiculed in the checkpoints for doing their job. 

During the pandemic, the men and women in uniform have been away from their families manning the checkpoints 24/7 to see to it that the enhanced social distancing and lockdown guidelines were strictly observed. 

What they got in return for implementing the laws and helping contain the spread of the coronavirus were brickbats, insults, among other forms of harassment from uncooperative and quick-tempered law violators.

We saw a lot of viral videos where arrogant individuals, after disregarding the guidelines on the social distancing and the wearing of mask, would physically attack the cops and military personnel manning the check-points after lashing at them like kindergarten pupils.

Despite their audacity and abhorrent behaviors, our uniformed law enforcers managed to control themselves and refused to retaliate using a force to neutralize the law offenders—except if they have become uncontrollable and were really looking for trouble. 

Nowadays if we meet a cop or a military man in the streets—with our without the lockdown—let’s not forget to thank or congratulate them not only for a job well done, but also for their heroism in helping contain the spread of the contagious virus.

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MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) has tasted its baptism of fire of a public wrath after the Ilonggo consumers experienced a nerve-tingling 13-hour power blackout over the weekend in Iloilo City. 

It was probably the longest power interruption experienced by the Ilonggo populace ever since More Power scored a blitzkrieg against rival Panay Electric Company (PECO) in a series of court battles since 2019.

The Ilonggos are ruthless and unforgiving when it comes to protesting against any power outage. 

They have had enough in many years of being under the mercy of the power distributor.

They don’t care anymore if it is PECO or More Power that provides them electric services. Just give them a fair deal and they won’t give a damn which power company to acknowledge.

All they want is efficient service and unhampered power distribution. Anything less would mean an apocalypse of verbal denunciation.

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

    

Don’t be afraid to criticize the government

“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

—George Washington

By Alex P. Vidal

IF the citizens think the government is inutile, they have the right to express it; they have the right to write about it and complain.

No citizen should be threatened, arrested and jailed, or harmed physically for expressing his feelings about the government.  

No citizen should cower in fear and hopelessness if he thinks there is a need for government to improve its services to the people.  

People in government are expected to respond with open mind, civility, grace, and reason, not act of belligerence and violence.  

By airing their displeasure doesn’t mean the citizens want to destroy the government. 

Unless it’s a call to arms—a summon to engage in active hostilities—or campaign to wage a rebellion to topple the government.

It’s normal for people to agitate and complain because they pay for the salaries of public officials running the government.

Our constitution specifically guarantees this freedom and no authority or law can be passed abridging the citizens’ right to free speech and expression, at least not in a democratic state like the Philippines.

Framers of our constitution made sure these civil rights aren’t infringed, trampled and subjugated.

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If Goryo and Lydia think and feel the city hall is remiss of its obligation to protect the Ilonggos during the pandemic, they can express it to their heart’s content even in the mass media; and Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Treñas and his staff shouldn’t begrudge it.

They can always belie it if they think Goryo and Lydia were merely misinformed or didn’t know their facts.

If the line of communication in this clash of opinions isn’t hampered, truth will come out and the public will be informed and enlightened.

If Bardot and Glenda think and feel the capitol does not provide the necessary assistance to residents in the province hit hard by the pandemic, they can always relay their disgust and frustration in writing or by airing it in the media and in any public plaza.

Governor Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr. and his assistants shouldn’t feel annoyed and distracted. 

If they believe Bardot and Glenda were lying or weren’t getting the real story behind the provincial government’s efforts to help the people, Defensor, et al can always correct the misconception or miscommunication.

In a free market of opinions and ideas, there can be no loser. Everyone is a winner.  

If we think our senators and representatives in congress are inept and incompetent, there is nothing wrong if we tell it as it is; it’s normal to call spade a spade without being threatened by a loaded pistol. 

-o0o-

Barangay officials who reacted violently when some residents went ballistic after they weren’t given their share of the social amelioration program (SAP) for the novel coronavirus pandemic, didn’t fully understand their mandate as officials of the smallest political unit in the local government.  

Some of the cruelty and irrational response of barangay officials confronted by frustrated residents over a SAP dispute have been captured in the videos that went viral during the period of lockdown.

The knee-jerk reaction of some petrified and irked barangay officials betrayed their guilt. 

Either they really tried to do a monkey business but were caught, or their brutal reaction and bullying tactic were a defense mechanism after they were caught “red-handed” of pocketing the SAP intended for some residents.

Also, the military or the Philippine National Police (PNP) should refrain from acting as toy soldiers or utak berdugo if someone will call a public official—or even President Duterte—as “buang” (insane) or “gago” (stupid).

Their job is to secure the people, not to curtail their rights to express what they intend to say or stop them from cursing the public officials.

Under this administration, which has institutionalized the use of expletives, everyone has been calling anyone “gago”, “putang ina” (SOB), idiot, and even the morbid “papatayin kita” (I will kill you) and nobody gives a damn.

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

  

  

Falling rocket junk not a ‘fake news’

“To a philosopher all news, as it is called, is gossip, and they who edit and read it are old women over their tea.”

—Henry David Thoreau

By Alex P. Vidal

BECAUSE “it was not immediately reported in the major networks” anywhere in the world, some people who read our previous article about the rocket fragments that fell from the sky and missed New York City on May 11 questioned the veracity of the story.

They thought it was another case of “fake news” meant to divert the people’s attention from the “boring” daily statistics on the cases and deaths related to coronavirus.

I stand by my story.

If we search it in the Google, at least more than five websites made a “developing” story about the rocket chunk more than 72 hours after it happened. 

United Kingdom’s Daily Mail posted this on its website May 13: “Massive 20-ton chunk from China's failed rocket that fell to Earth Monday missed hitting New York City.”

It reported: “A massive chuck of China's failed rocket fell to Earth Monday, but a few minutes sooner and it would have crashed right into New York City. Reports say that debris would have rained down on the Big Apple if the Long March 5B rocket would re-entered the atmosphere just 15 minutes earlier. The Chinese rocket carrying an experimental craft into orbit launched on May 5 and malfunctioned after just a week in space, which led to the uncontrolled descend. 

The 20-ton core stage of the rocket came barreling down into Earth's atmosphere around 11am ET, moving at thousands of miles per minute.”

New York Post also reported on May 12, 2020: “Space junk from Chinese rocket was about 15 minutes from hitting NYC.”

It reported further: “Chunks of the massive Chinese rocket that recently took an uncontrolled plunge back into the Earth’s atmosphere narrowly missed hitting New York City. Had the Long March 5B rocket re-entered the atmosphere about 15 to 20 minutes earlier on Monday, it would have rained debris on the nation’s largest metro area, according to Ars Technica, a technology-focused publication. The about 100-foot-long rocket was launched on May 5, carrying an unnamed prototype of a newly designed Chinese crew capsule.”

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RIDDLES OF MALE PERSONALITY. Why does a husband or lover fall asleep within seconds after lovemaking? Why is a man often more shaken by his wife's infidelity than a woman is by her husband's? 

Why do some men never follow through when they say "I'll call you tomorrow"?

If women are baffled by these and other riddles of the male personality, noted psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers suggests they stop wondering as she explains in What Every Woman Should Know About Men, that the more they know about the mental and emotional characteristics of the men in their life, the better equip they will be to interact successfully with them in business, love and friendship.

"A woman can improve her relationship with any man if she understands more about the sources of men's behavior," writes Brothers, former member of the faculty of Hunter College and Columbia University in New York City.

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And here she examines that behavior to help women relate to the opposite sex with more ease, sensitivity and self-assurance.

In this frank and informative book, Dr. Brothers clarifies the physical, psychological and emotional differences between male and female, dispelling the myths and speculations that have been the basis of much sexual conflict. 

With the support of extensive research, and using examples from case histories and from her own life experiences, she then shows how the stages of male adulthood may affect the moods and behavior of the men you know.

Her observations provide valuable insights into various areas of the male psyche. For example, she describes the male business mentality: the kinship of men in a work environment; the trouble women have in breaking through that closed circle of camaraderie; the trial of sexual harassment and how to cope with it.

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Dr. Brothers also addresses some of the intimate questions that remain unanswered in many women's minds concerning male sexual capabilities and difficulties. 

Here she offers solutions for minor problems and guidelines for making the sexual experience more exciting, more enjoyable and more loving.

The book is an important and much-needed work at a time when the life-styles, values and aspirations of both men and women are changing dramatically--and when personal relationships are adjusting to this cultural transition. 

Filled with Dr. Brothers' expertise and practical wisdom, the book offers sound advice for establishing and continuing relationships with male colleagues, bosses, subordinates, husbands and lovers in ways that will fulfill both the female and male needs.

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

‘If we get caught between the moon and New York City’

“Look, the fame rocket is only on the upward trajectory for a limited time.”

—Guy Fieri

By Alex P. Vidal

IF we “get caught between the moon and New York City,” Christopher Cross said in Arthur’s Theme, his 1981 hit song, “the best that we can do is fall in love.”

How could we fall—or even think of falling—in love if our lives were in danger?

Most of us here in the Empire State were probably sleeping May 11 (Monday) night when we “nearly got caught” by the falling fragments of a Chinese rocket that fell from the sky.

The junk, reportedly weighing up to several hundred pounds, ”narrowly missed New York City”, largely burning up in the atmosphere before some of the debris survived long enough to slam into West Africa.

The incident reminded me of the Skylab, which fell in pieces in the small town of Esperance, Australia, a remote spot seven-and-a-half hours away from Perth by car in 1979.

Before Skylab fell, panic gripped the Philippines when naysayers claimed the country with 7,100 islands was among those in the danger zone being closely watched along with Australia, Indonesia, and Singapore.

I was baby-sitting my twin half-brothers when I heard reports in the radio so many Filipinos suffered heart attack because of anxiety and fear.

A tailor, who could not accept that “we might all be killed together once the Skylab fell” in front of our house in Iloilo City, lost his mind and died days later.

Children in our surroundings would chant a prank, “Ngaa napatay si Manny (Why did Manny die?)”

Someone would shout, “Skaaaaylaaaab.”

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Skylab eventually reached Earth in the early morning hours of July 12, 1979, falling in pieces in Esperance, Australia. 

Esperance resident Stan Thornton was able to snatch up a few of the pieces. He flew to San Francisco to collect a $10,000 prize offered by the San Francisco Examiner to the first person to bring in a piece of the lab.

The fragments that nearly hit the Big Apple came from China’s new single-stage Long March 5B rocket it test-launched, propelling its cargo into orbit before the 20-ton core eventually fell back into the atmosphere, according to a technology publication, Ars Technica.

Quoting  astronomer Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Fox News reported that it’s unlikely that anywhere near that large of an object is what returned to Earth--but fragments weighing up to several hundred pounds could have survived re-entering the atmosphere.

The U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron, which detects, tracks and identifies all manmade objects in orbit, confirmed the re-entry over the Atlantic Ocean at 8:33 p.m. May 11.

The doomed core passed right over New York City, Ars reported -- and if re-entry had been just a few minutes earlier, debris could reportedly have showered the Big Apple.

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Scary especially that most of us have been stranded at home in a lockdown for more than two months already owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Had the debris fell in New York City’s residential areas, no one knows how horrific would be damage to be inflicted to the people and their properties.

Some of those who survived the coronavirus infection would have been killed by the rocket fragments.

There are reportedly about 8,000 man-made objects the size of baseballs and larger orbiting earth. 

About seven percent are working satellites, 15 percent are rockets, and the rest is fragments and defunct satellites. 

Atlantis reported that “though 8,000 may seem like a lot, USSPACECOM, the military body responsible for tracking the debris, says that it amounts to only three or four pieces per area the size of the airspace over the continental United States up to 30,000 feet.”

No humans have ever been killed by falling space debris on record.

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Here’s the latest coronavirus statistics in New York as of May 14, 2020: cases: 350,848; deaths: 27,290; and recovered: 59,217.

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s emergency orders are set to expire on Friday, May 15, and he has focused on taking steps toward restarting New York’s battered and shuttered economy, including getting some residents back to work.

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

Stop calling media as ‘fake news’

“Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication.”

—Marshall McLuhan

By Alex P. Vidal

POLITICIANS and their subalterns who call the media “fake news” if they can’t get a favorable report or commentary shouldn’t be tolerated and allowed to go scot free, so to speak.

They should be exposed right away as “panit sibuyas” or onion-skinned and discouraged from staying in the public service so they can no longer draw salary from the public coffers.

If they are allergic to media criticism they can always resign and  transfer in the private sector where they can perpetuate their idiocy and build their own legacy and kingdom without public scrutiny and accountability.

Public officials are expected to welcome any inquiry on their activities and performances in the name of public interest; they must welcome any criticism from the media, including requests for full disclosure of important documents and transparency from the taxpayers as long as they are working in the government.

If they get mad in a slightest criticism—or if they detest unfavorable reports and commentaries—they aren’t fit for a public office.

Being constantly badgered by media criticism is part and parcel of their having been elected or appointed in the positions paid by the taxpayers.

If they get a negative publicity it means they need to improve their services somewhere. They need to correct a mistake and level up. 

It doesn’t mean they are good-for-nothing.

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A negative media comment or news will not abruptly end their splendid career as politicians or public servants.

It will even boost their stock or give them the leverage to improve and become better if they know how to appreciate the wisdom of a constructive criticism in public service.

Media’s role will always be adversarial. 

They can’t earn the public trust as “fiscalizers” or doyens of check and balance if they pay homage and do the bidding for the politicians.

Press people are the politicians’ partners in nation building, not rivals or detractors.

In fact, they should start to worry a lot if nobody from the media is writing or reporting and commenting about their activities and performances anymore.

If they are not anymore being mentioned in the news and commentary sections of leading media outfits, this means they have become irrelevant and inconsequential.    

Being in that dreary level is already a red alert for any politician or public servant if they are about to be hurled in the dustbin of history.

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IF we don’t know how to control our emotions in the social media, we will only have ourselves to blame if we get into trouble.

Like what happened to Boracay resident Ronald Quiboyen and Ronel Mas of Zambales, who both used the social media to announce they were giving rewards to anyone who can kill President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

Quiboyen threw himself under the bus when he proposed in his Facebook account to double Mas’ P50 million offer in the Twitter to P100 million to anyone who can finish off the loud-mouthed and hard-hitting president.

Of course we all know they were only joking. 

They aren’t that rich and crazies to spend that much just to order the assassination of the country’s most feared leader in this century and declare it in the social media to boot.

But their kind of joke isn’t funny.

Even those who don’t admire Mr. Duterte and those who have no love lost for the arrogant president will agree that their threats were tantamount to gross violation of the laws on inciting to sedition related to cybercrime, and violation of Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees on the part of Mas, who is a public school teacher.

We may agree to disagree without being unlawful and violent.

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

Blaming the media is wrong

“What can everyone do? Praise and blame. This is human virtue, this is human madness.”

—Friedrich Nietzsche

By Alex P. Vidal

RETIRED Police Colonel Joel G. Garingalao, Sr., who went home to the Lord peacefully on May 9 while the world was battling the coronavirus pandemic, was one of the best councilors Iloilo City never had.

He was 86.

Col. Garingalao was a colorful figure in the law enforcement. 

Strict but approachable, he was one of the only few uniformed officials who earned the respect and admiration of the metropolis’ businessmen, politicians, and members of the media and academe.

In most of our interviews with him when he was the chief of the Jaro Police Station, he always looked at us straight in the eyes and spoke like a university professor. Colonel Garingalao was intelligent and understood some of the highfalutin vocabularies he used. 

I remember him as a very humble police official who single-handedly neutralized several holdupmen inside the SM Delgado in the early 90’s.

Criminals shook in their jeans when they saw him thus they opted to yield rather than suffer the harsh consequences,   

As a young boy in Iloilo City in the 70’s, I already heard the exploits of the then Philippine Constabulary (PC) captain; I saw him once literally chopping like Jacky Chan the neck of a drunken man who terrorized the Iloilo City Terminal Market. 

He was the father of Iñigo Garingalao, Iloilo City government’s Anti-Smoking Task Force (ICAST) executive director and one of the most admired and hard working city officials under the Treñas administration.

Rest in peace, Colonel Joel G. Garingalao Sr.

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ONE of the major flaws—or shall we call it crimes—of those pushing for the agenda of the conspiracy theorists is to blame the media, the “mainstream media” to be precise.

In all of their lamentations and rants mostly in the documentaries (we congratulate the Youtube, Facebook, among other social media platforms for their vigilance), they accused the media establishment—the “mainstream media,” the term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large mass news media that influence many people, and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thoughts—of being “corrupt” and “biased” and, to some extent, “part of the conspiracy to hide the truth behind COVID-19’s real origin,” among other outrageous but unsubstantiated charges.

Being part of the mainstream media, I can not tolerate this and I denounce this falsehood as below the belt, grossly unfair, unpalatable, and highly atrocious. 

This is one reason why they can’t gather sympathy from the educated and the well-informed. 

They talk thrash and their motives are thrash.

They also insult our intelligence by trying to push down to our throats incredible and iniquitous theories that are unproven scientifically, especially when they slander established and respected people in the community and government.

-o0o-   

Please stop blaming the media for doing their job. 

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, better known as the coronavirus, there have been many people blaming the media for several things. 

The first thing people are blaming the media for is the lack of supplies in grocery stores. 

A prime example of this is toilet paper and hand soap.  It is not the media’s fault for how others respond to news. 

It is a journalist’s job to provide information on any national and/or international news that could affect all of us. 

Secondly, the inaccuracy reporting. 

It is a journalist’s job to present true information to the public, especially about something new and serious. 

If you think that a source is not providing the truth, then check where you got the information. 

I am also so sick of seeing the public go on rants about how poorly informed the media represents the news, and then all of a sudden the public is not happy because the media are providing all the information we know.

The other day, I received a rude message from somebody essentially telling me that it was the media’s fault for everything and that I needed to check my facts or sit down and be quiet. 

I simply replied that all the information I have provided on my social media accounts, radio reports or television reports came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, press releases or government offices. 

It is exhausting to be told by the public on how to properly do my job. 

My job is to provide information so that you all can be informed and not misinformed. 

If you are confused about any major stories, such as the coronavirus, you can look up trustworthy media sources. 

Also, what mainstream media sources report are not the same as what local or state newscasts report. 

Maybe it’s me getting tired of people falsely reporting things or reporting things before they are confirmed, which leads me to my next point. 

Please wait for official confirmation from a press release and report before you post on social media. 

I noticed a post on Facebook about Eastern closing when nothing has been officially announced. 

The media are not spreading false news. The general public is. 

The media are just getting the blame for people inaccurately posting things on social media. 

The truth is the COVID-19 virus is officially a pandemic, Italy is on lockdown and Eastern, along with a handful of other universities, is extending breaks or canceling classes as safety measures.

The admonition came from Daily Eastern News’ Katelyn Eddington.

-o0o-

(Here’s the continuation and last of two parts from the previous column about the viral conspiracy video removed by Youtube, Facebook, Vimeo for its inaccuracies and unproven allegations) 

Video Interview: Do you believe that this virus (SARS-CoV-2) was created in the laboratory?

Mikovits: I wouldn’t use the word created. But you can’t say naturally occurring if it was by way of the laboratory. So it’s very clear this virus was manipulated. This family of viruses was manipulated and studied in a laboratory where the animals were taken into the laboratory, and this is what was released, whether deliberate or not. That cannot be naturally occurring. Somebody didn’t go to a market, get a bat, the virus didn’t jump directly to humans. That’s not how it works. That’s accelerated viral evolution. If it was a natural occurrence, it would take up to 800 years to occur.

Scientific estimates suggest the closest virus to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is a bat coronavirus identified by the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). Its “distance” in evolutionary time to SARS-CoV-2 is about 20 to 80 years. There is no evidence this bat virus was manipulated.

Video Interview: And do you have any ideas of where this occurred?

Mikovits: Oh yeah, I’m sure it occurred between the North Carolina laboratories, Fort Detrick, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and the Wuhan laboratory.

There is no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 originated at WIV. NIAID’s funding of a U.S. group that works with the Wuhan lab has been stopped, which outraged many scientists.

Mikovits: Italy has a very old population. They’re very sick with inflammatory disorders. They got at the beginning of 2019 an untested new form of influenza vaccine that had four different strains of influenza, including the highly pathogenic H1N1. That vaccine was grown in a cell line, a dog cell line. Dogs have lots of coronaviruses.

There is no evidence that links any influenza vaccine, or a dog coronavirus, to Italy’s COVID-19 epidemic.

Mikovits: Wearing the mask literally activates your own virus. You’re getting sick from your own reactivated coronavirus expressions, and if it happens to be SARS-CoV-2, then you’ve got a big problem.

It’s not clear what Mikovits means by “coronavirus expressions.” There is no evidence that wearing a mask can activate viruses and make people sick.

Mikovits: Why would you close the beach? You’ve got sequences in the soil, in the sand. You’ve got healing microbes in the ocean in the salt water. That’s insanity.

It’s not clear what Mikovits means by sand or soil “sequences.” There is no evidence that microbes in the ocean can heal COVID-19 patients.

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