"It is the House leadership that is to blame for this mess, period."
Santa Banana, it was my 65th wedding anniversary yesterday!
I was not able to send my wife flowers like I used to on every special occasion – birthday, Valentine’s Day, Easter Sunday, and anniversary. After all, what could I do since we were still under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ)? I am sure she understood.
It occurred to me that being in a lockdown means big savings for me. We could not go out to celebrate even if we wanted to. And even if we could go out or host a party, whom would we invite? Many of our friends are either sick or have gone ahead of us.
At any rate, my wife and I thank the Lord that we are able to celebrate 65 years of marriage, and being relatively healthy at our age (I am 92; she is 88).
**
The House of Representatives came to its senses with the passage of the bill sponsored by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano himself, providing the Lopez-owned ABS-CBN network a provisional franchise lasting up to October 31, 2020.
The bill will now go to the Senate where it will surely be acted upon favorably by the Senate majority.
The end effect of this is that the temporary restraining order petition filed by ABS-CBN before the Supreme Court is rendered moot and academic. This is also the case with the House committee on franchises’ move to compel the National Telecommunications Commission to show cause why it should not be cited for contempt.
As I have been saying all along, the House of Representatives led by Cayetano was to blame. It delayed acting on the franchise of ABS-CBN. There were 11 bills for this purpose but the House did not act.
Despite the bleeding hearts that condemned the closure of ABS-CBN as an attack on press freedom, the core problem was not made clear. The NTC commissioners were just following a 2014 Supreme Court decision that it could not grant provisional authority because there was no franchise to speak of.
All is well that ends well–or at least, until October 31.
**
As expected, the Inter-Agency Task Force announced that there will be modified enhanced community quarantine in high-risk areas until the end of May. All other areas of the country will be under general community quarantine – a move to the new normal.
The guidelines of the modified ECQ will be limited movements of people, purchase of essentials, limited public transport and limited return to work in manufacturing and other industries deemed essential.
What I cannot understand is the DOH statement that the number of COVID-19 cases is also expected to increase. So why hurry up and open up? It does not make sense, Santa Banana!
Another modification of the ECQ is the partial resumption of international flights at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. To where and from where the IATF did not say. They should be careful because there are many countries that are still considered high risk.
Another thing: The resumption of limited work in construction, both public and private, should have strict guidelines to prevent transmission of the virus, especially on the guidelines on physical distancing.
I am still wondering how it can be enforced inside jails, which have been congested for the longest time. The Supreme Court should pursue its policy of having not only sick and elderly inmates released, but also those who cannot post bail.
**
All this talk about resumption of economic activity reminds me of the important infrastructure projects that we should resume as soon as it is safe. Among these, the MRT-7 project, skyway projects and the New Manila International Airport, as well as the Sangley Airport in Cavite.
