Extended

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.

Worse Than The Virus

Reading posts about the COVID-19 pandemic on Facebook (confirmed cases as of this writing: 3,246, deaths: 152) already triggers paranoia that I never thought I had in me, but even worse are the godawful posts related to how the government and the people are handling the crisis.

I believe that how you act at a time like this only shows the person you really are. I read about how some residents in Dinalupihan, Bataan opted out on the relief goods for poorer, more deserving families. But I’ve also seen a video of a man throwing relief goods to the ground because he said it isn’t enough.

Remotely Yours

After two weeks in quarantine, I was finally allowed to work from home starting last Friday. For many days I was anxious from waiting especially when our VP announced that we’ll only be paid for the first week of the ECQ, and for the following week onwards, employees who are not working from home or onsite will not receive their usual compensation. If we wanted it paid, then we must use our remaining earned leaves.