More questions than answers

"You can’t see this enemy."

The imposition of a lockdown on Luzon by President Rodrigo Duterte for 30 days and a state of calamity for six months is necessary to contain the spread of the coronavirus. But there are more questions than answers.

A leader like Mr. Duterte always considers, first and foremost, the interest of the nation and safety of the people. On the part of the citizens, we should be willing to observe the guidelines, discipline ourselves and make sacrifices because we should think about the common good over our convenience.

Among the guidelines: Suspension of work until April 14 except in supermarkets, public markets, businesses engaged in food, health and utilities, banking and finance, BPO and mass media.

Mass transportation is also suspended—LRT, MRT, jeepneys and buses.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development has been ordered to give food to the poorest, but cash grants are suspended. I don’t understand the logic of the suspension of cash grants. Suspension of work and mass transport would mean a loss of income for the poor. Food from the DSWD will not be enough.

There is also the guideline that mall tenants will be given reprieve from rent and other fees. Mass gatherings are banned—this will include Church services even during the Holy Week.

My question is—after the lockdown, what happens?

The reason I am not so optimistic about the coronavirus being over is that it has been declared a pandemic, and that there is no cure for it yet.

I am now 92 years old and I survived the hardships of World War II. At least, then, it was clear who the enemy was. With coronavirus, you really cannot tell.

With all these, the people’s problems are multi-fold. Not everything we need can be found in the markets. Opportunists are jacking up prices of goods.

And then, you can never really know who has the virus because some patients are asymptomatic. Just take a look at Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri. This is why we need to observe social distancing.

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Insofar as the April 15 deadline for the filing of income tax returns, common sense dictates that the deadline should be moved, with penalties waived. My gulay, Filipinos are now in a state of emergency, and nothing is more important than that!

The best place to be is home. Sure, sometimes you have to go out and buy necessities, but always wear a mask and always wash your hands and disinfect.

I commend the health workers who are exposed to patients who may be infected with the virus. They know the dangers they are facing, but they go to work anyway. This is heroism in any language.

The worst thing anybody can do right now is to politicize the lockdown.

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Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go is certainly the busiest among his colleagues.

As chairman of the Senate committee on health, he has put up almost 60 Malasakit Centers to serve indigent patients. He has also gone to victims of fire and other calamities. Name one senator who has done what he is doing. If there were a contest for the most hardworking senator, I would vote for him.

And yet we also always see him beside the President. When he talks about what Mr. Duterte wants or thinks, we believe him because they are so close that he already knows the mind of the President, having been his aide for so many years.