"I am prepared to stay indoors for a lot longer."
"I am prepared to stay indoors for a lot longer."
My wife and I are expecting the driest Christmas season. Despite the prospect of the easing of lockdowns, we would never dream of going out of the house, Santa Banana!
How can we enjoy the season when it’s unthinkable for us to go to the malls to shop for gifts?
The only thing we can do is put up the Christmas tree and the miniature decorations. Even going to church is problematic!
I cannot imagine what Christmas without reunions would look like. But we have to stay home to stay safe. I am already 93 and my wife is 88. I think we will just spend the season praying for better times ahead.
**
It looks like the problem of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and the House supermajority is just beginning. The allies of Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco are vowing that they would make Cayetano respect the 15-21 term-sharing agreement. No less than President Duterte brokered this deal.
Velasco and his allies cannot seem to admit that 198 members of the House want Cayetano to stay on as Speaker. Recall that Cayetano has already offered his resignation.
Cayetano agreed to step down October 14. When this day comes, Velasco and his aides intend to ensure that Cayetano honors their agreement.
The problem now is how to make Cayetano commit himself to resign on October 14, when the supermajority coalition has already rejected his resignation. The division at the House is worsening with Velasco’s allies being eased out of their positions. For instance, Rep. Mikee Romero has been replaced as Deputy Speaker.
The problem now is the national budget. The President wants to make this a priority especially during this time. Passing the budget on time is critical.
Cayetano and his buddies have vowed that the budget would be enacted by the House early this month, There should be no problem with that unless Velasco and his allies try to delay it. If this happens, Velasco will answer to Duterte.
Be that as it may, I have predicted that as a result of the agreement between Cayetano and Velasco when they met with Duterte, this would divide the House. I asked whether term-sharing was really right of wrong. Well, that is exactly what is happening now.
Santa Banana, with all the things happening at the House in the midst of COVID-19, we are reminded of the fact that at the end of the day, everything is but a numbers game.
**
The Philippines, with more than 322,000 cases as of Sunday, has become the 20th country with the highest number of COVID-19 cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In Southeast Asia, we are still first.
In terms of fatality ratio, we ranked 18th with 1.8-percent fatality ratio.
Despite these, why are Mr. Duterte and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases now planning to ease restrictions just so we could restart the economy? There is definitely something wrong with this mentality,
If the people have managed to sacrifice for the past seven months for the sake of containing the virus, we can certainly manage for longer than that.
Of course we need to jumpstart the economy. But health and safety must come first. I wonder who is advising the President – health experts or politicians?
We can agree with the need to increase production. We need to save jobs and businesses. Hunger here is also on the rise. Still, the move to jumpstart the economy is risky and dangerous.
Santa Banana, the rising cases of COVID-19 should worry us all! I think the people who don’t wear a mask must be told to do so.
Didn’t the World Health Organization say that we have not yet reached the peak of the COVID crisis?
**
Will the fact that US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania now have COVID-19 make a difference in the November elections there? If their illness lingers, of course it would.
