"No clarification needed."
An undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government felt the need to clarify his statement during a radio interview that it would be right to have a shame campaign to stem the surge of COVID-19 cases.
Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Diño said that the shame campaign he had suggested was not for COVID-19 patients but for quarantine violators who refuse to practice safety protocols as the country grapples with a higher number of viral contagion per day. His words had been taken out of context, he said.
Whether or not Diño was in earnest or whether he was saving face after a gaffe is irrelevant in the face of the real need to highlight the callousness, arrogance and entitlement of some.
We do not think anybody in his right mind would agree that those who contracted the disease brought it upon themselves and must be shamed for their irresponsible behavior. Thus far, we have not heard of COVID parties in this part of the world, and we have not protested the commonsensical and considerate measure to wear a mask wherever we go.
What we do have here, however, are law enforcers who mistake the responsibility they bear for the privilege to lord it over those they feel are beneath them and are helpless against them.
We have public officials who make us endure their ineptitude while clinging on to their posts. Their callousness has profound implications on the number of COVID-infected Filipinos and on the lives of those who have contracted the virus.
We have those who serve no other purpose but display their loyalty to the powers that be—and who are quick to take offense and retaliate against those who point out their inadequacies, paid for by taxpayers’ money.
We are burdened by those whose priorities are so misplaced that they might as well be living on another planet.
For them, no clarifications are needed. Bring on the shame campaign.