I was halfway through the movie “A Simple Favor” when my brother said that the president is already giving his address late Tuesday night.
Drifting in and out of sleep while watching, I was only able to catch quite a few of what he said as he’s slurring that I don’t know if I’d feel annoyed or sorry for him. He looks resigned, exhausted and almost hopeless that he even asked why this pandemic had to happen during his presidency.
Sure, there are so many things that sent me at my wits’ end with this administration’s (in)competency in handling this situation, but I also realized how any leader of a third-world country like ours will be brought down to his knees at a crisis of this magnitude.
I am in no way excusing him, only that I think it’ll be better to deal with the missteps later when the dust settles. Call it abstinence or perhaps a show of compassion since it’s the Holy Week, but I’d refrain from denouncing what the government is doing for the meantime and just pray this will be over soon.
President Duterte hinted in his address that night that the government is “inclined” to extend the lockdown until the end of the month but it was only the following morning when he made it official.
Like many of us, I can’t wait for this to be over so we can all get back to normal for all my shallow and somewhat selfish reasons. I want to go back to the office. I want to get dressed and go to the malls again. I want my nephews to go outside and play. I want to go out where I want when I want to.
Then again, I also know that lifting the quarantine after April 12 will be a very risky move and I fear that there will be a resurgence of cases once this happens. Mass testing will start on the 14th and as the numbers of confirmed cases continue to rise, obviously we’re not in the peak of the outbreak yet. I feel that prematurely lifting the restriction would waste the one month of ECQ.
All things considered, the extension means a lot of daily wage earners won’t be able to go back to work and therefore won’t expect any pay. The government started distributing cash aid of 5,000 to 8,000 pesos per household for the poorest of the poor, even if according to DSWD only half of the low-income families will get the cash subsidy.
This emergency assistance package made the middle-class appeal for the same and, honestly, it’s a valid point. The middle-class is also affected by this crisis and is also making ends meet, considering they are the ones who duly pay their taxes and therefore should also get some financial assistance.
It’s good that Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla responded and wrote an open letter to the president to consider the overlooked sector but until now, there is still no word if they will even consider if they’d give us a share of the 200-billion COVID budget.
Oh, well. What else is new?
Drifting in and out of sleep while watching, I was only able to catch quite a few of what he said as he’s slurring that I don’t know if I’d feel annoyed or sorry for him. He looks resigned, exhausted and almost hopeless that he even asked why this pandemic had to happen during his presidency.
Sure, there are so many things that sent me at my wits’ end with this administration’s (in)competency in handling this situation, but I also realized how any leader of a third-world country like ours will be brought down to his knees at a crisis of this magnitude.
I am in no way excusing him, only that I think it’ll be better to deal with the missteps later when the dust settles. Call it abstinence or perhaps a show of compassion since it’s the Holy Week, but I’d refrain from denouncing what the government is doing for the meantime and just pray this will be over soon.
President Duterte hinted in his address that night that the government is “inclined” to extend the lockdown until the end of the month but it was only the following morning when he made it official.
Like many of us, I can’t wait for this to be over so we can all get back to normal for all my shallow and somewhat selfish reasons. I want to go back to the office. I want to get dressed and go to the malls again. I want my nephews to go outside and play. I want to go out where I want when I want to.
Then again, I also know that lifting the quarantine after April 12 will be a very risky move and I fear that there will be a resurgence of cases once this happens. Mass testing will start on the 14th and as the numbers of confirmed cases continue to rise, obviously we’re not in the peak of the outbreak yet. I feel that prematurely lifting the restriction would waste the one month of ECQ.
All things considered, the extension means a lot of daily wage earners won’t be able to go back to work and therefore won’t expect any pay. The government started distributing cash aid of 5,000 to 8,000 pesos per household for the poorest of the poor, even if according to DSWD only half of the low-income families will get the cash subsidy.
This emergency assistance package made the middle-class appeal for the same and, honestly, it’s a valid point. The middle-class is also affected by this crisis and is also making ends meet, considering they are the ones who duly pay their taxes and therefore should also get some financial assistance.
It’s good that Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla responded and wrote an open letter to the president to consider the overlooked sector but until now, there is still no word if they will even consider if they’d give us a share of the 200-billion COVID budget.
Oh, well. What else is new?
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